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. Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . 0000005714 00000 n The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. This includes five countries (Cameroon, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal) where more than half the population uses traditional healers. 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 rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity. The Pew Forums survey finds a similar number of people in Guinea Bissau identifying themselves as Muslim (38%) but a much higher percentage identifying themselves as Christian (62%) and very few describing themselves mainly as practitioners of traditional African faiths. 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. Ritual functionaries include priests, elders, rainmakers, diviners, and prophets. 0000001019 00000 n I have concentrated these comments on the role of African background in my theological reflection. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. Abstract. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax 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). So the church which exists on the African scene bears the marks of its peoples backgrounds. %PDF-1.3 For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. Animism is a common feature of African religions, and misfortune is often attributed to witchcraft and sorcery. xref I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. 0000005005 00000 n 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 unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), myst (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. 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. 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. 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. We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. While the recourse to traditional healers may be motivated in part by economic reasons and an absence of health care alternatives, it may also be rooted in religious beliefs about the efficacy of this approach. Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African 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. 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. (See the glossary for more information on juju. 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. The more I peeped into African religious insights about God, the more I felt utterly unable to use the word "only" in this case. 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. C'est l'poque de la colonisation belge que les premiers missionnaires catholiques et protestants sont arrivs dans cette rgion du Zare. 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. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. 0000002884 00000 n The previous year I had published African Religions and Philosophy (Doubleday, 1969). 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. Vodou is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. This bitter conflict has led to wanton destruction of lives and property, and this has become a source of great worry to the writers. 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. Liberia is the only country where more than one-in-ten (12%) identify primarily with an African traditional religion. 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. Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. African development. Anthropologica is published for CASCA by University of Toronto Press. religious syncretism, the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices. Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender. 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. (back to text), Photo credit: Sebastien Desarmaux/GODONG/Godong/Corbis, Part of the Pew-Templeton Global Religious Futures Project, 1615 L St. NW, Suite 800Washington, DC 20036USA 75 0 obj 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. OLUPONA: No, this type of binary thinking is simplistic. The first African captives entered England's North American colonies through Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. This is not a biblical distinction. According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. AR-Ndhdnn}H\{%jC!a,]c8F`1LE(3%"w+tj}](q w[,p8i$dd$GrMRD K4wLG4@h\WfPY Omissions? 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. 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%). African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. 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. 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. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. Par consquent, Mbali-Dieu est la rponse crative des Biras une rencontre religieuse syncrtique. 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 immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. 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. 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. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. After that date there will be more Christians in the south than in the north. 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. OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. 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. The suppression of ancestor worship is the only area where mission Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. 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. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. There are other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. Because of this, Africa is now home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim communities. 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). Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Author of. But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. The decisive word here is "only." Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. Foreign religions simply dont have that same connection to the African continent. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. 75 19 Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. The concept of the church as the body of Christ in the whole world is another growing development for me. While Islam and Christianity tend to . (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. Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. trailer This is not to say that indigenous African spirituality represents a form of theocracy or religious totalitarianism not at all. OLUPONA: My father, a faithful Anglican priest, was a good example. It will keep me chewing for a long time, and it will most certainly feed my theological development. GAZETTE: It sounds like African indigenous religions are dynamic, inclusive, and flexible. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. Take em with a grain of salt. An old African adage says: The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. 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: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? Alternate titles: Vaudou, Vodun, Voodoo, Voudou, vodon, Elizabeth McAlister Associate Professor of Religion, Weslyan University. I have seen the quest more sharply. Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? The first and most intriguing topic that immediately engaged my attention was the thinking of African peoples about God. 0000014025 00000 n Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Updates? Vodou represents a syncretism of the West African Vodun religion and Roman Catholicism by the descendants of the Dahomean, Kongo, Yoruba, and other ethnic groups who had been enslaved and transported to colonial Saint-Domingue (as Haiti was known then) and partly Christianized by Roman Catholic missionaries in the 16th and 17th centuries. X0#J++?U;_3_gmx9[F\"{,Um1yu 9 ?ce%9EG`N: &U0EHC$p4=$'=DlX6M_7,--" 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. 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. 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. <> But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. Vodou represents a syncretism of the West African Vodun religion and Roman Catholicism by the descendants of the Dahomean, Kongo, Yoruba, and other ethnic groups who had been enslaved and transported to colonial Saint-Domingue (as Haiti was known then) and partly Christianized by Roman Catholic . 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. Did he then reveal himself only in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel and other personalities of the Bible? 0000008365 00000 n In Cameroon, Ethiopia, Liberia and Mozambique, Muslims account for between 15% and 30% of survey respondents. Amen. Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. 0000001519 00000 n 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. For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. endobj He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. 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. Aujourd'hui, la plupart des Zariens sont soit catholiques, soit protestants; les Biras pour leur part sont principalement catholiques. So, "Lord, help Thou my unbelief!" Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). At first, Christianity made few inroads into the African slave population, which had its own religious traditions. It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity. GAZETTE: What allows African indigenous religions to be so accommodating? 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 theological horizon continues to expand. And this witness deserves ones support through service and prayer. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. GAZETTE: How would you define 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. Unlike in Europe and the United States, very few people in sub-Saharan Africa say they are unaffiliated with a particular faith. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. God was not a stranger to African peoples. African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . (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. I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." 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.. 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. No viable theology can grow in Africa without addressing itself to the interreligious phenomenon at work there. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. 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. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Its about getting tangible results. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax In this case, so-called "salvation history" must widen its outreach in order to embrace the horizons of other peoples histories. 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). Some scholars choose to call it the African Traditional Religion, while others prefer to name it the African traditional Religions. First, the association of traditional African religion with an other-worldly orientation may appear problematic, given the "pragmatic" basis of this religion. Again, it doesnt reflect the multiplicity of ways that traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa. While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not.
What Do Nuns Do When They Have Their Period, His Wealth Is Of No Use To Him Analysis, Little Jimmy Dickens Daughters, Future Goten Fanfiction, Articles M