<>/ExtGState<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/Annots[ 9 0 R] /MediaBox[ 0 0 595.32 841.92] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S>> One is also sometimes givena new name after baptism. INTRODUCTION Man considers life worth living because he finds certain things intrinsically valuable; hence value in its simple connotation means a thing of worth. Some traditional African societies like the Yoruba believed in the existence of lessergods. Quantum computing simulation reveals possible wormhole-like dynamics. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. In most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. GAZETTE: How do you balance your Christian and indigenous African identity? l| -O;l0bo?Ge_4=MQ=EO|`X\G~Ah,yyG]%,GmF/-w F%YX`Ip}( na~!e[X/K879 ,y?R'd&h. d?ZKS=h8\%M{h(5M=xUeQG:3Sp}#-%>KpC3`zI *vw() 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. While some African cosmologies have a clear idea of a supreme being, other cosmologies do not. Mbiti emphasizes that Africans view the universe religiously. Christ Jesus, God's own son, takes the "groaning" of humans to God. ABSTRACT PART II: Comparing the concept of Spirit and Soul in the Traditional Religion of the Akan and Ewe Tribes to that of the Bible By Godwin Kwame Ofosuhene In the part one of my writing, with the titled The concept of God in the traditional religion of Akan and Ewe ethnic groups compare to the Bible - dated 31st May 2006, l explained how the Akan and Ewe ethnic groups of Ghana understood God in their traditional religious practices. 3 0 obj ;;m]mB"DTSUD[j*3l D{k7@tB0cg]Er+e)skf6cRUiu,WdmlA#OLs81/#qs v(a6lA`O/HvX*3SME_qv&oMm?{{n In the face of persistent human iniquity, God is believed to furnish means of atonement and forgiveness, thereby tempering justice with mercy., However, although Christianity and African Traditional Religion share some striking similarities, closer examination of African traditional beliefs reveals that the contrasts are far more striking than the similarities. Consequently, traditional Africans have different ideas on what role the ancestors play in the lives of living descendants. for this article. endobj 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. ufF'dXeA^l4a*0(1l HLtA@a2O>bOk)x6*. GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? These gods are generally perceived as intermediaries between the Supreme Being and society. One of the things these diaspora African religions testify to is the beauty of African religions to engage a devotee on many spiritual levels. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. Who Should Christians Worship? Journal of Biblical Unitarianism 1:1, 5-33, 2014. The spiritual medium is the physical embodiment of the religious retributive order in which Africans know themselves to stand.. They trust God for their healing. Both believe that God is the creator ofhumankind. The missionaries succeeded in spreading Christianity in Africa at a time when tribal religions were ignored or denigrated. Other spirits with a significant role in maintaining the African traditional moral world include ancestors and lineage spirits who operate in specific social contexts where their will is expressed through misfortunes, and some other spirits who do not act directly but who rely on human agents to effect their will. These spirits underlie the power of spirit mediums who, as mediators between space and the human world and by virtue of the moral authority this confers, are able to arbitrate between living human beings. All rights reserved. Even though their differences outnumber their. 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. February 21, 2019. Akiki Nyabongos novel, Africa answers back, reveals that religious syncretism in Africa is a reality that has persistently painted Christianity as an offshoot of traditional African religions. He contends that although African Traditional Religion generally refers to God as creator and sustainer of the universe, morally good, omniscient, and caring toward humans, yet even where this is held to be true, the high god in Africa is very often regarded as distanced from human affairs. And even when he is considered benign, the high God is morally otiose, having little direct retributive relationship with humankind. In some situations, the high God is cast in unfavorable terms as one who creates and who kills. the other in tradition poses a serious dilemma for both Christianity and tradition in Africa. 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. It was believed that Vodun was a representativeof the Supreme God known as Mawu. Its about getting tangible results. Published online by Cambridge University Press: Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? 24 October 2016. OLUPONA: No, this type of binary thinking is simplistic. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main 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. . The religious activities of chiefs and lineage heads are generally limited to the more routine biweekly and annual festivities, but traditional priests given their association with specific shrines are regarded as specialized practitioners through whom the spirits of the gods may grant directions. We will return to these issues later in Morality Truly Christian, Truly African, but for now it is enough to ask whether the similarities in the deep structure between the two religions are indeed as similar as Green suggests. It is a counter culture in response to the, The move towards contextual Christianity in Africa is an essential venture if Christianity is to communicate with the African cultural heritage. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. 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 Traditional Africans did not practice baptism. These shrines were built near waterbodies, next to big trees or near other sacred places. This paper uses a qualitative research approach in the form of document analysis to critically explore the religious intersectionalities between Christianity and African Traditional. Focusing on Luo Muslims in Kenya, Dr Lawrence Oseje looks at the interaction of Islam and traditional Luo practices, especially those around death and burial. 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. To achieve its goal, the paper adopts the method of . It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential. A Journal of the McGrath Institute for Church Life, by Paulinus Ikechukwu Odozor This order, according to Mbiti, is knowable to humans, by nature. 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, The changing face of Congress in 8 charts, As Russian invasion nears one-year mark, partisans grow further apart on U.S. support for Ukraine. He is not only the covenant giver He gives the power to keep the covenant. Some of these African diaspora religions include Cuban Regla de Ocha, Haitian Vodou, and Brazilian Candomble. 1 0 obj Church Life Journal Human beings are the link between the heavens and the earth, between the visible and the invisible universe. <> The Yoruba believe in the existence of the Supreme God called Olurun andthe lesser god, Obatala. 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. 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. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. Part two provides a condensed historical survey of the, The Bible and the Third World: Precolonial, Colonial and Postcolonial Encounters, by R. S. Sugirtharajah. Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa. Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. Christianity, African traditional religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism. The numerous traditional African religions have in common the notion of a creator god, who made the . 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]. They believe that Obatala helped Olurun in creating theworld and everything in it. 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