But in practical terms, there is a Christian Yes to African religiosity. In three of the countries surveyed (Djibouti, Mali and Senegal), Muslims clearly outnumber Christians. As discussed elsewhere in this report, many Christians and Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa retain beliefs and rituals that are characteristic of traditional African religions. So I read on and on, and conducted field research to learn more and more. Omissions? Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. This is not an empty coincidence. <<6D546C3FADADB2110A00A09A6B9CFF7F>]/Prev 416812>> 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. GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? 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. 0000001198 00000 n The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. 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. In Nigeria, the population in 1900 included 4.2 million Muslims and 180,000 Christians. The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), myst (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. (See the glossary for more information on juju. When this happens, then a passage such as Hebrews 1:1-3 rolls down like mighty waters, full of exciting possibilities of theological reflection. I was like a snail shyly peeping out of its house after a heavy thunderstorm. He later earned both an M.A. Corrections? The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. 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). 0000015705 00000 n Take em with a grain of salt. If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. 75 19 In the end, I believe that Africans can make room for a plurality of religious points of view without one religious point of view excluding or compromising the other. 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. Ethiopia's Christian population, at 6 million in 1900, will grow to a projected 100 million in 2050. OLUPONA: I was raised in Africa during the 1960s, when the Yoruba community never asked you to chose between your personal faith and your collective African identity. 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 I wont pray to an orisa, but I will affirm the importance of my connection with members of my age group. Abstract. 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. 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. I want to make a pilgrimage into Christ. in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) Liberia is the only country where more than one-in-ten (12%) identify primarily with an African traditional religion. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. A prominent European New Testament professor visited Makerere University and interviewed me on what I thought about the "death of God" discussion. 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. While Islam and Christianity tend to . While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Didnt our Lord let it be clearly known that "before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58)? I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. 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.. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. This rapid spreading of the Christian faith where people have been predominantly followers of African religion provokes interesting questions. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. 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. 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. 0000002505 00000 n %PDF-1.7 % 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. Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . 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. 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. Africans consequently played a crucial role in establishing the doctrines and theology of the early church. But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. Their culture, history, world views and spiritual aspirations cannot be taken away from them. Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. 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). (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. 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. The councils programs in response to these problems are impressive. I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. settlements formed by African slaves who ran away from imprisonment the Americas 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 first African captives entered England's North American colonies through Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. 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. Did he then reveal himself only in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel and other personalities of the Bible? Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. 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. It will keep me chewing for a long time, and it will most certainly feed my theological development. 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. 0000014025 00000 n 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 most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. GAZETTE: How have ancestors played a role in traditional societies? It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity. 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. 0000000676 00000 n It may be, and needs to be, a qualified and critical Yes. 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. xref This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect. I am tantalized by the fact that my vision cannot cope with that horizon. 0 It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? 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? 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. <> My doctoral studies in New Testament eschatology led me also to the field of Christology. 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. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. Subscriptions are available to libraries and individuals who are not members of CASCA. Some people tried to involve Africa in the debate. Unlike in Europe and the United States, very few people in sub-Saharan Africa say they are unaffiliated with a particular faith. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. 0000001791 00000 n Some scholars choose to call it the African Traditional Religion, while others prefer to name it the African traditional Religions. Updates? For over 200 years, Africans, largely from the west coast of Africa, were brought to the United States in the slave trade. The word Vodou means spirit or deity in the Fon language of the African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). (I myself have consulted with several diviners for my research on specific academic topics regarding African culture and history; consequently, if we were to lose Africas diviners, we would also lose one of Africas best keepers and sources of African history and culture. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Below is the article summary. Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. 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. 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. religious syncretism, the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices. But I feel that the issue of looking at African history in light of the biblical understanding of history is clearly called for. Updates? And in Botswana, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia, the survey finds that 5% or less identify as Muslim. These impinge upon their daily life- and experience of the Christian faith. The beliefs and practices of the traditional religions in Africa can enrich Christian theology and spirituality." They are not mutually exclusive. I want to reflect and write on this topic, but somehow it makes me feel frightened. 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 other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. Again, it doesnt reflect the multiplicity of ways that traditional African spirituality has conceived of deities, gods, and spirit beings. For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions Some of these African diaspora religions include Cuban Regla de Ocha, Haitian Vodou, and Brazilian Candomble. Ritual functionaries include priests, elders, rainmakers, diviners, and prophets. All too often, the result is conflict and radicalisation. African religion has equipped people to listen to the gospel, to discover meaningful passages in the Bible, and to avoid unhealthy religious conflict. 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. I wish to apply "change of mind" here to mean theological growth, and not necessarily a rejection of or turnaround from ideas that I may have held ten years ago. degree at Harvard Divinity School. 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%. <>stream Religious pluralism serves peace. 0000000016 00000 n Consequently, traditional Africans have different ideas on what role the ancestors play in the lives of living descendants. interaction between the Christian churches and West African religious culture. 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. Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. 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. In Africa the traditional religions are a major source for the study of the African experience of God. Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. In this case, so-called "salvation history" must widen its outreach in order to embrace the horizons of other peoples histories. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. AR-Ndhdnn}H\{%jC!a,]c8F`1LE(3%"w+tj}](q w[,p8i$dd$GrMRD K4wLG4@h\WfPY 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. 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. He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. I want to walk with Jesus of Nazareth on the shores of Lake Galilee and the hillsides of Judea, through the gates of Jerusalem. Consequently, people are discovering that the biblical faith is not harmful to their religious sensibilities. For example, in 14 of the 19 countries surveyed, more than three-in-ten people say they sometimes consult traditional healers when someone in their household is sick. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> With it, one began to explore afresh the realm of Gods revelation and other treasures of our faith. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. 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 Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from in Africa. 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. OLUPONA: The role of ancestors in the African cosmology has always been significant. 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.
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