In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). 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. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? 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 Yet . My interpretation of Israels history demands a new look at the history of African peoples, among whom this same God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has indeed been at work. 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. This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. 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. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. Did he then reveal himself only in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel and other personalities of the Bible? So I read on and on, and conducted field research to learn more and more. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. The church is composed largely of people who come out of the African religious background. Alternate titles: Vaudou, Vodun, Voodoo, Voudou, vodon, Elizabeth McAlister Associate Professor of Religion, Weslyan University. They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. GAZETTE: It sounds like African indigenous religions are dynamic, inclusive, and flexible. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions African religion has equipped people to listen to the gospel, to discover meaningful passages in the Bible, and to avoid unhealthy religious conflict. OLUPONA: My father, a faithful Anglican priest, was a good example. 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. 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. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. religious syncretism, the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices. The theological horizon continues to expand. 1"7$X9Xyyyb GNpL!9I&mxo0++44cA@5c. 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). Christianity in Africa dates to the very inception of the church. This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity.
Religious syncretism - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica 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. 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 The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), myst (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors, Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects. 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. Consequently, people are discovering that the biblical faith is not harmful to their religious sensibilities. The first and most intriguing topic that immediately engaged my attention was the thinking of African peoples about God. According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. 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. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. 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. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. ancient Rome: Religious and cultural life in the 3rd century, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/religious-syncretism, Academia - Religious Syncretism as a Syncretistic Concept: The Inadequacy of the " World Religions " Paradigm in Cross-Cultural Encounter. 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. 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. Take em with a grain of salt. 0000002026 00000 n 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. It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. For example, followers can seek spiritual direction and relief from healers, medicine men and women, charms [adornments often worn to incur good luck], amulets [adornments often used to ward off evil], and diviners [spiritual advisers]. "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. Updates?
PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial startxref (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. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. "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. One of the things these diaspora African religions testify to is the beauty of African religions to engage a devotee on many spiritual levels. There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function. GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? 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. The editor of The Christian Century has given me an undeserved privilege in asking me to contribute some reflections on "How My Mind Has Changed" in the course of the past decade. 817-820. That would be a serious loss not only for Africans, but also for academics, researchers, writers, and general seekers of wisdom the world over. This is not a biblical distinction. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock.
African Christianity - African Studies - Oxford Bibliographies - obo Indigenous African spirituality today is increasingly falling out of favor. For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. In most countries, however, less than one-in-twenty say this is their primary religious affiliation. /// Dans le nord-est du Zare, la communaut rurale Bira a t expose depuis plus de cinquante ans au message chrtien. An old African adage says: The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.. And this witness deserves ones support through service and prayer. Vodou is an oral tradition practiced by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the necessary devotional practices, from their elders. When this happens, then a passage such as Hebrews 1:1-3 rolls down like mighty waters, full of exciting possibilities of theological reflection. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. 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%. 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. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. While Islam and Christianity tend to . Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. 0000003641 00000 n Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt Omissions? 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. In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. But I feel that the issue of looking at African history in light of the biblical understanding of history is clearly called for.
Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices The continued influence of traditional African religion is also evident in some aspects of daily life. 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 In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). 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. The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. 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. But I have discovered that there is also the fundamental factor of African religion, without which this phenomenal expansion of Christianity would not be a reality. 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? (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 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 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. In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. There is even a community deep in the American Bible Belt in Beaufort County, S.C., called Oyotunji Village that practices a type of African indigenous religion, which is a mixture of Yoruba and Ewe-Fon spiritual practices. These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. I should add that without claiming to be full members of indigenous traditions, there are many professed Christians and Muslims who participate in one form of indigenous religious rituals and practices or another. The councils programs in response to these problems are impressive. It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin. Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. Their history has a theological meaning.
PDF African American Christianity - Harvard University In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. Below is the article summary. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main 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. GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic? There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. Corrections? 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. 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. One of Jacob Oluponas earliest memories in Massachusetts is of nearly freezing in his apartment as a graduate student at Boston University during the great snowstorm of 1978. Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. 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. 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.
But whatever the shortcomings of these and my other publications, the materials that went into these two have raised extremely important issues for me that have continued to engage my reflection. I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. 0000002884 00000 n Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was. 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.