Robinson, came out. Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? 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. Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa. trailer Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. And in Botswana, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia, the survey finds that 5% or less identify as Muslim. 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). While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Their culture, history, world views and spiritual aspirations cannot be taken away from them. 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. And if these shrines are not properly cared for by the designated descendant, then misfortune in the form of illness might befall the caretaker. (See the glossary for more information on juju. The concept of the church as the body of Christ in the whole world is another growing development for me. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. (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 So the church which exists on the African scene bears the marks of its peoples backgrounds. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. 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. A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the Roman Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice. 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. 0000000676 00000 n religious syncretism, the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices. hb```b``g`a`.ef@ aV68+ +$.0t9$r8A2Or}6=<4. 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. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. 300 ce). There are other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. 0000003217 00000 n (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main The council made me aware, perhaps even frightfully so, of the problems of our world. 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. 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. 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. Instead, God brought them. Revelation is given not in a vacuum but within particular historical experiences and reflections. 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. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? I had it. The Yoruba diviners, for example, draw on this extensive indigenous knowledge every day by consulting Ifa, an extensive literary corpus of information covering science, medicine, cosmology, and metaphysics. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. 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. The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition of the region about 100 years ago, when, according to a Pew Forum analysis of historical information from the World Religion Database, less than a quarter of the population identified as either Christian or Muslim. Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors, Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects. Mozambique, Botswana and South Africa are the only countries surveyed where a significant number of people (roughly one-in-ten) describe their religion as atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular. In all the other countries, the figure is closer to zero. 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). Amen. These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. But I am grateful for that one step I may be taking under the light of this vision. 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. This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. 0000001519 00000 n In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). 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. 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. 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. (back to text), 2 The World Religion Database estimates that roughly four-in-ten people in Guinea Bissau are Muslim and approximately one-in-ten are Christian, with the rest of the population associated with traditional African religions. 0000005714 00000 n Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Ethiopia's Christian population, at 6 million in 1900, will grow to a projected 100 million in 2050. Currently I am about to complete a book on this question of the encounter between the biblical faith and African religion. As the map in the preface to this report shows, sub-Saharan Africa is much more religiously mixed than northern Africa, where the population is overwhelmingly Muslim. The suppression of ancestor worship is the only area where mission Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. African development. 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 0 In its place there emerged the word "also." 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. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. Wendy Sherman, who was the lead U.S. negotiator in the nuclear deal with Iran, was welcomed by the Institute of Politics at Harvard Kennedy School. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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. Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. X0#J++?U;_3_gmx9[F\"{,Um1yu 9 ?ce%9EG`N: &U0EHC$p4=$'=DlX6M_7,--" 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 . 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. There is no room to describe them, and I can mention only two or three of them briefly. African scholars 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. In the cities, local hierarchies of priestesses or priests (manbo and oungan), children of the spirits (ounsi), and ritual drummers (ountgi) comprise more formal societies or congregations (sosyete). OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. 817-820. The word Vodou means spirit or deity in the Fon language of the African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). 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. In most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. 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. In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. The book comprised ideas that I had gathered from 300 African peoples ("tribes" -- a term that today is sometimes used in derogatory ways). Indigenous religion in Africa is the way Africans understand and worship their god. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), myst (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. A prominent European New Testament professor visited Makerere University and interviewed me on what I thought about the "death of God" discussion. Aujourd'hui, la plupart des Zariens sont soit catholiques, soit protestants; les Biras pour leur part sont principalement catholiques. I have concentrated these comments on the role of African background in my theological reflection. Updates? This is not a biblical distinction. Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. It is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? African spirituality is truly holistic. GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? w?0t7/Oa84P]T}T}?gHq.qsRnkc;]X*s1!E"l^~K_/|j p z|9~p uf:}[Mc|4!#"Zg!/vc _~|oyuQ'dX :?NmU)?oPSw?6#?[OUN@6oz{j;\e7nWsV~XyU4vMm4#f4c:[Wefkd&88XB|cMh6)mt<4M8}; *:7??+0:0$! When this happens, then a passage such as Hebrews 1:1-3 rolls down like mighty waters, full of exciting possibilities of theological reflection. This chapter includes information on: Download chapter 1 in full (6-page PDF, <1MB), 1 The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in the easternmost part of North East Africa, on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Indigenous African practices tend to be strongest in the central states of Africa, but some form of their practices and beliefs can be found almost anywhere in Africa. 1"7$X9Xyyyb GNpL!9I&mxo0++44cA@5c. 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. But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. Y.91sC@o9sJL9@XMw`7\`1%nRjBS %U=a{N>. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Take em with a grain of salt. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. 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. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. 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. 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.. 75 19 Anthropologica is published for CASCA by University of Toronto Press. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. In one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 0000003641 00000 n 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. Its about getting tangible results. 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 . 0000000016 00000 n This was an extremely liberating word in my theological thinking. %PDF-1.3 Corrections? 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. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. 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. The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity. Their history has a theological meaning. African immigrants and slaves worked to maintain traditional religious and social practices in their new surroundings. 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. In Africa the traditional religions are a major source for the study of the African experience of God. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. Consequently, people are discovering that the biblical faith is not harmful to their religious sensibilities. Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. 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. 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"). I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. Didnt our Lord let it be clearly known that "before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58)? Omissions? In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. 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. Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. 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. Omissions? 0000002505 00000 n settlements formed by African slaves who ran away from imprisonment the Americas Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. (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. It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. 0000001586 00000 n "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. 0000015705 00000 n And this witness deserves ones support through service and prayer. OLUPONA: The role of ancestors in the African cosmology has always been significant. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. Some African diasporans are returning to the continent to reconnect with their ancestral traditions, and they are encouraging and organizing the local African communities to reclaim this heritage. That experience gave me a face-to-face encounter with the ecumenical movement and left a lasting mark on me. Foreign religions simply dont have that same connection to the African continent. So I read on and on, and conducted field research to learn more and more. 9_r'v>#z2"syiBm?mry8%;m8v L,WNHitMJk#RZwEl+M3N1n[nt4]C$i2y]_6Iasrt 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%). Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. Omissions? They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. Orthodox Christianity, although influenced by other religions, generally looked negatively upon these syncretistic movements. Religion informs everything in traditional African society, including political art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. C'est l'poque de la colonisation belge que les premiers missionnaires catholiques et protestants sont arrivs dans cette rgion du Zare. He later earned both an M.A. I was like a snail shyly peeping out of its house after a heavy thunderstorm. A follower of African diaspora religions has many choices in terms of seeking spiritual help or succor.
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