0000001019 00000 n Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. 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. In the other case no such written record exists. The numerous traditional African religions have in common the notion of a creator god, who made the world and then withdrew, remaining remote from the concerns of human life. AR-Ndhdnn}H\{%jC!a,]c8F`1LE(3%"w+tj}](q w[,p8i$dd$GrMRD K4wLG4@h\WfPY %PDF-1.3 4 0 obj In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. The award allows Olupona a year of study and research in Germany; he is on leave this year (201516). 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. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main settlements formed by African slaves who ran away from imprisonment the Americas Following a period of parish work in England, I went to teach at Makerere University, Uganda, where I remained for ten years until 1974. 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. 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 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. 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. GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. 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. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. I also celebrate and honor the kings festivals and ceremonies in my hometown and other places where I live and do research. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. 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%). In this overpowering environment, one simply accepted this stand and looked at the world from its perspectives. Religious pluralism serves peace | D+C - Development + Cooperation African development. Vodou is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. 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. Vodou | Definition, History, West African Vodun, & Facts 0000002884 00000 n But upon my return to work in Africa, and upon careful study of the religious background of our people, there emerged gradually the demand to examine this issue and to form my own judgment. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. 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. Anthropologica is published for CASCA by University of Toronto Press. The concept of the church as the body of Christ in the whole world is another growing development for me. So, "Lord, help Thou my unbelief!" Par contre, les croyances en la sorcellerie ont persist. Corrections? Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . Some people tried to involve Africa in the debate. I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. Since the Bible tells me that God is the Creator of all things, his activities in the world must clearly go beyond what is recorded in the Bible. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. 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. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. In one case the thinking and experience of the people produced a written record of Gods dealings with the Jewish people in particular. The original constitution defined the organization's mandate as providing a forum for the exchange of ideas among ethnologists. Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. 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. Anthropologica 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 . (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Much of Oluponas work is an attempt to provide a fuller understanding of the complexity and richness of African indigenous thought and practice by viewing it not as a foil or as a useful comparative to better understand Western religions, but as a system of thought and belief that should be valued and understood for its own ideas and contribution to global religions. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. We can list some obvious and often publicized factors. 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. 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%. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function. Overall, however, Christians outnumber Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa by about two-to-one. It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. This re-ligion is found in almost all the activities of the African man. The Encounter of Christian Faith and African Religion OLUPONA: My father, a faithful Anglican priest, was a good example. The WCCs very existence as a council of churches is a living hope. Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender. 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 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"). African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. Indigenous African spirituality today is increasingly falling out of favor. The book comprised ideas that I had gathered from 300 African peoples ("tribes" -- a term that today is sometimes used in derogatory ways). Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). Did he then reveal himself only in the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samuel and other personalities of the Bible? Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. (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. {PB,`s Africans consequently played a crucial role in establishing the doctrines and theology of the early church. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. 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. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. That finished the interview. Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. 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. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. Their history has a theological meaning. 0000001198 00000 n How Africa Is Changing Faith Around the World I find the traditional Western distinction between "special revelation" and "general revelation" to be inadequate and unfreeing. But the basic truth seems to be that Gods revelation is not confined to the biblical record. 300 ce). I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. That experience gave me a face-to-face encounter with the ecumenical movement and left a lasting mark on me. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? 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. In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. For instance, the Yoruba religion has historically been centered in southwestern Nigeria, the Zulu religion in southern Africa, and the Igbo religion in southeastern Nigeria. Yet . I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. One read Honest to God and a variety of other works in an effort to understand the hot debate then raging in Europe and America. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. 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. This bitter conflict has led to wanton destruction of lives and property, and this has become a source of great worry to the writers. The first and most intriguing topic that immediately engaged my attention was the thinking of African peoples about God. A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. 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. Religious pluralism serves peace. For over 200 years, Africans, largely from the west coast of Africa, were brought to the United States in the slave trade. 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. 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. It may be, and needs to be, a qualified and critical Yes. Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in 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. In Nigeria, the population in 1900 included 4.2 million Muslims and 180,000 Christians. 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. 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. For this reason, some African theologians take African religiosity to be one of the sources of theological reflection (besides the Bible, Christian heritage, etc.). This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . GAZETTE: What is the state of indigenous African religions today? The more I peeped into African religious insights about God, the more I felt utterly unable to use the word "only" in this case. In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. There are also other parallels in social, political and cultural areas, just as there are some significant differences. 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.