Religious beliefs among Black Americans | Pew Research Center GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? African Christianity - African Studies - Oxford Bibliographies - obo 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. Later, my theological studies in America and England did not challenge this position, since that was not a living issue for my professors and fellow students. Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. 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. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. Religion Online is designed to assist teachers, scholars and general seekers who are interested in exploring religious issues. interaction between the Christian churches and West African religious culture. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. African spirituality is truly holistic. 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 one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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). The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. All too often, the result is conflict and radicalisation. Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. 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. X0#J++?U;_3_gmx9[F\"{,Um1yu 9 ?ce%9EG`N: &U0EHC$p4=$'=DlX6M_7,--" OLUPONA: No, this type of binary thinking is simplistic. First, the association of traditional African religion with an other-worldly orientation may appear problematic, given the "pragmatic" basis of this religion. 0000014207 00000 n I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. Some people tried to involve Africa in the debate. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. The recipient of many prestigious academic honors and research fellowships, Olupona also received the 20152016 Reimar Lust Award for International and Cultural Exchange, considered one of Germanys most prestigious academic honors. www.ej-theology.org Christianity and Indigenisation in Africa Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation | Pew Research Center We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the Roman Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice. PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial In this case, so-called "salvation history" must widen its outreach in order to embrace the horizons of other peoples histories. Vodou is an oral tradition practiced by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the necessary devotional practices, from their elders. 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. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. Updates? It doesnt have a fixed creed, like in some forms of Christianity or Islam. 93 0 obj 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. They are not mutually exclusive. 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. (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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 43. It will keep me chewing for a long time, and it will most certainly feed my theological development. The WCCs very existence as a council of churches is a living hope. 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). Africans consequently played a crucial role in establishing the doctrines and theology of the early church. 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 But in practical terms, there is a Christian Yes to African religiosity. startxref The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. Yet . ), In addition to expressing high levels of belief in the protective power of sacrificial offerings and sacred objects, upwards of one-in-five people in every country say they believe in the evil eye, or the ability of certain people to cast malevolent curses or spells. 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 want to walk with Jesus of Nazareth on the shores of Lake Galilee and the hillsides of Judea, through the gates of Jerusalem. GAZETTE: How have ancestors played a role in traditional societies? It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. 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. This includes five countries (Cameroon, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal) where more than half the population uses traditional healers. 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. Consequently, people are discovering that the biblical faith is not harmful to their religious sensibilities. The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. Their culture, history, world views and spiritual aspirations cannot be taken away from them. 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]. So, "Lord, help Thou my unbelief!" 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. 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. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. 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. The theological horizon continues to expand. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . 0000003641 00000 n African Traditional Religion in the Context of Christian and Islamic

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