Y.91sC@o9sJL9@XMw`7\`1%nRjBS %U=a{N>. Liberia is the only country where more than one-in-ten (12%) identify primarily with an African traditional religion. 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. Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. 0000014207 00000 n 75 19 Modernity has not put a total stop to its influence. But I am grateful for that one step I may be taking under the light of this vision. He later earned both an M.A. "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. After that date there will be more Christians in the south than in the north. That experience gave me a face-to-face encounter with the ecumenical movement and left a lasting mark on me. The decisive word here is "only." He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. stream In one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. 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. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. (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. But I feel that the issue of looking at African history in light of the biblical understanding of history is clearly called for. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. 0000003217 00000 n 0000000016 00000 n Omissions? Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. 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. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. It is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. They have also fostered a greater feeling of individual self-worth by acknowledging important milestones in ones life, including becoming an adult or an elder. As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. Corrections? 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. 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. Supreme Court may halt health care guarantees for inmates, Why police resist reforms to militarization, Historian says Fla. dispute shows why AP class in African American studies is needed, Low-carb diet can help manage progression of Type 2 diabetes, Those breezy TV drug ads? With it, one began to explore afresh the realm of Gods revelation and other treasures of our faith. 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%). At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. 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. degree at Harvard Divinity School. I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." The first and most intriguing topic that immediately engaged my attention was the thinking of African peoples about God. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. 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. Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. 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. Consequently, traditional Africans have different ideas on what role the ancestors play in the lives of living descendants. Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. 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. As the map also shows, the ratio of Christians to Muslims increases the further south one goes in the continent. 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. The award allows Olupona a year of study and research in Germany; he is on leave this year (201516). Omissions? These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. 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. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. 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. Again, it doesnt reflect the multiplicity of ways that traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). 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 . He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. 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). religious syncretism, the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices. Instances of religious syncretismas, for example, Gnosticism (a religious dualistic system that incorporated elements from the Oriental mystery religions), Judaism, Christianity, and Greek religious philosophical conceptswere particularly prevalent during the Hellenistic period (c. 300 bcec. 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. I want to make a pilgrimage into Christ. It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity. hb```b``g`a`.ef@ aV68+ +$.0t9$r8A2Or}6=<4. The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. Par contre, les croyances en la sorcellerie ont persist. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax 0000001019 00000 n 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. GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic? Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. Instead, God brought them. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. The continued influence of traditional African religion is also evident in some aspects of daily life. In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. 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). 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt On returning home, the learned professor wrote an article using my brief answer as his title. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. 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. According to the 2003 Demographic and Health Survey, for example, Muslims constituted 50% of the population, while the 2008 DHS figure is 45% and the Nigerian Ministry of Healths 2008 estimate is 50%. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. I wont pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. {PB,`s "The success of Christianity and Islam on the African continent in the last 100 years has been extraordinary, but it has been, unfortunately, at the expense of African indigenous religions," said Olupona. I have met here the church not only in its geographical outreach but also in its historical roots -- seeing, for example, the rich traditions of the Orthodox Church, the universality of the Roman Catholic Church (even though it is based in the Vatican), the reconciling positioning of the Anglican Communion, the dynamic vitality of African independent churches, and so on. They will certainly be overwhelming, and I feel very excited about them. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. 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. GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? 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. 0000001198 00000 n African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main 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. 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. 0000015705 00000 n The introduced religions of Islam (in northern Africa) and Christianity (in southern Africa) are now the continent's major religions, but traditional religions still play an important role, especially in the interior of sub-Saharan Africa. It may be, and needs to be, a qualified and critical Yes. 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. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. African religion has equipped people to listen to the gospel, to discover meaningful passages in the Bible, and to avoid unhealthy religious conflict. So, "Lord, help Thou my unbelief!" This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. 4 0 obj A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. In Africa the traditional religions are a major source for the study of the African experience of God. I have received much in a short period. I have been greatly enriched by working at the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey, 1974-1980. If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology? 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. That which had been seen as the enemy of the gospel turns out (to me) to be indeed a very welcoming friend. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. I was like a snail shyly peeping out of its house after a heavy thunderstorm. 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. Updates? The beliefs and practices of the traditional religions in Africa can enrich Christian theology and spirituality." OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. %PDF-1.7 % 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). In its place there emerged the word "also." OLUPONA: The role of ancestors in the African cosmology has always been significant. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. 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 . 0000005005 00000 n (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. 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. We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. The more I peeped into African religious insights about God, the more I felt utterly unable to use the word "only" in this case. OLUPONA: Thats a mixed bag. 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. endobj No viable theology can grow in Africa without addressing itself to the interreligious phenomenon at work there. For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. OLUPONA: No, this type of binary thinking is simplistic. %%EOF 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 contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. All too often, the result is conflict and radicalisation. 0000014025 00000 n In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. Amen. That finished the interview. I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. 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. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . They were names of one and the same God, the creator of the world, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 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. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax The first African captives entered England's North American colonies through Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Par consquent, Mbali-Dieu est la rponse crative des Biras une rencontre religieuse syncrtique. Yet . 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. What is African Traditional Religion? It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. (See the glossary for more information on juju. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. 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. <>stream 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.