817-820. 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. In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. The concept of the church as the body of Christ in the whole world is another growing development for me. Below is the article summary. For myself, I negotiate between my Yoruba and Christian identity by, for example, affirming those aspects of African culture that promote good life and communal human welfare. He later earned both an M.A. We can list some obvious and often publicized factors. The Yoruba, however, do have a concept of a supreme being, called Olorun or Olodumare, and this creator god of the universe is empowered by the various orisa [deities] to create the earth and carry out all its related functions, including receiving the prayers and supplications of the Yoruba people. There are other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. GAZETTE: What else would we lose if we lost traditional African Religions? 0000008365 00000 n (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. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent. Modernity has not put a total stop to its influence. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). 0000001198 00000 n Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. 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]. 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. They were names of one and the same God, the creator of the world, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But in practical terms, there is a Christian Yes to African religiosity. 0000005005 00000 n As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. 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 But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. Omissions? An old African adage says: The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.. The previous year I had published African Religions and Philosophy (Doubleday, 1969). I had it. 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. Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). 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. Liberia is the only country where more than one-in-ten (12%) identify primarily with an African traditional religion. Africans consequently played a crucial role in establishing the doctrines and theology of the early church. Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. 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. ), 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. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? And if these shrines are not properly cared for by the designated descendant, then misfortune in the form of illness might befall the caretaker. 0000003641 00000 n Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender. The conviction that people will be reborn in this world again and again tends to be more common among Christians than Muslims. That finished the interview. 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 . 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). %PDF-1.3 Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. (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 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. (See the glossary for more information on the evil eye.). I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. Abstract. Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. Some scholars choose to call it the African Traditional Religion, while others prefer to name it the African traditional Religions. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. En ce qui concerne la croyance en Dieu, il semblerait que les Biras se soient servis de la chrtient pour rendre leur dieu traditionnel Mbali plus accessible et plus comprhensif, un changement qui a rendu le Dieu des chrtiens plus compatissant et indulgent vis vis du pch. Eating pattern tied to 24% reduction in cardiovascular, cancer mortality in people diagnosed with the chronic condition, HMS/Brigham study shows most advertised medicines little better than other treatment options. 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. 1"7$X9Xyyyb GNpL!9I&mxo0++44cA@5c. No doubt there still remain much research and reflection to be done in order to work out a consistent theological understanding of the issues entailed here. Their history has a theological meaning. 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. 0000001019 00000 n 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). interaction between the Christian churches and West African religious culture. 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. 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. It is here that I have discovered the church in Burma, in the Pacific islands, the house church in China, the basic Christian communities in Latin America, the struggling church in South Africa, plus countless other endeavors of Christians all over the world. 0 If they are two wavelengths, they make sense only when they move toward a convergence. 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. 0000001519 00000 n 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. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. After that date there will be more Christians in the south than in the north. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. 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. He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that Par contre, les croyances en la sorcellerie ont persist. 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. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Foreign religions simply dont have that same connection to the African continent. It is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. 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. Its about getting tangible results. These statements await further exploration by African theologians. But they used the names of the God who was and is already known by African peoples -- such as Mungu, Mulungu, Katonda, Ngai, Olodumare, Asis, Ruwa, Ruhanga, Jok, Modimo, Unkulunkulu and thousands more. 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). Religion informs everything in traditional African society, including political art, marriage, health, diet, dress, economics, and death. 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. A belief in ancestors also testifies to the inclusive nature of traditional African spirituality by positing that deceased progenitors still play a role in the lives of their living descendants. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. 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. 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 councils programs in response to these problems are impressive. The council made me aware, perhaps even frightfully so, of the problems of our world. He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. With it, one began to explore afresh the realm of Gods revelation and other treasures of our faith. Updates? Christianity in Africa dates to the very inception of the church. 93 0 obj (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." 0000001791 00000 n In three of the countries surveyed (Djibouti, Mali and Senegal), Muslims clearly outnumber Christians. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. Maybe this is why I am not an Anglican priest. Corrections? In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. 4 0 obj We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. In respect and honor of my culture, I also dress in my traditional Nigerian attire when Im in my country. 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. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the World Council of Churches is a great witness of the Christian response to the prayer of our Lord that we may all be one. 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. That is anathema to the fundamentalist faith movements that have been gaining momentum in recent decades. The continued influence of traditional African religion is also evident in some aspects of daily life. Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. This article appeared in the Christian Century, August 27- September 3, 1980, pp. For over 200 years, Africans, largely from the west coast of Africa, were brought to the United States in the slave trade. 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. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. Since I myself had never heard any lectures on African religion, I set out to do research on the subject in order to teach the course adequately. What factors are responsible for it? 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. Vodou is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. All too often, the result is conflict and radicalisation. There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> 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%. 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. But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. startxref They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. When this happens, then a passage such as Hebrews 1:1-3 rolls down like mighty waters, full of exciting possibilities of theological reflection. Today, the country claims about 80 million of each . Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. 0000002026 00000 n 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. 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. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. The theological horizon continues to expand. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. But the basic truth seems to be that Gods revelation is not confined to the biblical record. For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. 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. 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. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. GAZETTE: It sounds like African indigenous religions are dynamic, inclusive, and flexible. While Islam and Christianity tend to be overtly resistant to adopting traditional African religious ideas or practices, indigenous African religions have always accommodated other beliefs. 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. mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? 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. 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. 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. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function. Omissions? Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa. No viable theology can grow in Africa without addressing itself to the interreligious phenomenon at work there. My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. Anthropologica is published for CASCA by University of Toronto Press. trailer I have concentrated these comments on the role of African background in my theological reflection. Omissions? This is not an empty coincidence. The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. The rapid growth of many religions in Africa and the revival of AIR in postcolonial Africa have made inter-religious dialogue an urgent necessity. endobj Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. 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. In this overpowering environment, one simply accepted this stand and looked at the world from its perspectives. I have received much in a short period. 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. GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. Nevertheless, since 1900, Christians in Africa have grown from approximately 7 million to over 450 million today. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. Because of this, Africa is now home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim communities. 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. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . 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. For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. I want to make a pilgrimage into Christ. Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. 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. It publishes a journal Anthropologica and has reclaimed the name of its former journal, Culture for its occasional online bulletin. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. This statistical tilting of Christendom from the north to the south, after 2,000 years, holds tremendous prospects and challenges. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. (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. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. This was an extremely liberating word in my theological thinking. So I read on and on, and conducted field research to learn more and more. 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. 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. Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. 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. Take em with a grain of salt. A calendar of ritual feasts, syncretized with the Roman Catholic calendar, provides the yearly rhythm of religious practice. 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. In February 1974 a group of 120 anthropologists launched the Canadian Ethnology Society/socit canadienne d'ethnologie (CESCE), because they felt there was room for an association of anthropologists separate from the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association (CSAA) which was dominated by sociologists. 0000015705 00000 n A close geographical correlation exists between the location of African religion and the rapid expansion of the Christian faith. 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. 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 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.
Erika Thomas 5 News Weight Loss,
Padmashali Caste Actors,
Preston University Kohat Degree Verification,
John Gotti Favorite Restaurant,
Bohanon Canyon Complex Fossil Area,
Articles M