Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation | Pew Research Center Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Since Christianity came in contact with the traditional religion, there has always been a sharp conflict between traditionalists and Christians. APUSH Unit 1 Flashcards | Quizlet The spirituality of Africa - Harvard Gazette I want to make a pilgrimage into Christ. Reuben Kigame, the Kenyan Christian musician and apologist, has rightly suggested that considering the fact that Christianity existed in Africa for a good eighteen centuries before the. The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. 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. 75 0 obj This article concerned itself with the modern encounter between Christianity and African Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. 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. Afro-American Religious Syncretism in Brazil and the United States: A C'est l'poque de la colonisation belge que les premiers missionnaires catholiques et protestants sont arrivs dans cette rgion du Zare. Diviners who go through a long educational and apprenticeship program hold the history, culture, and spiritual traditions of the African people. The council made me aware, perhaps even frightfully so, of the problems of our world. 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. Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation. In contrast, witchcraft beliefs persist. In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Foreign religions simply dont have that same connection to the African continent. Religious pluralism serves peace. But, it has been a sorrowful, disappointment to me to experience the fact that some individuals who exercise great power in the council are not angels: they sometimes practice the exact contrary of those values and goals to which the council is committed. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. Religious beliefs among Black Americans | Pew Research Center Instead, God brought them. (See the glossary for more information on the evil eye.). 1996 Canadian Anthropology Society Everywhere he went in southwestern Nigeria, he never opposed or spoke out against African culture including initiation rites, festivals, and traditional Yoruba dress as long as it didnt directly conflict with Christianity. There are other areas of exploration in which I continue to be engaged. interaction between the Christian churches and West African religious culture. % 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. While Islam and Christianity tend to . Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. 0000003641 00000 n So the church which exists on the African scene bears the marks of its peoples backgrounds. But in practical terms, there is a Christian Yes to African religiosity. The first and most intriguing topic that immediately engaged my attention was the thinking of African peoples about God. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. 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. Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. 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. 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. It is a way of life, and it can never be separated from the public sphere. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. 0000015705 00000 n Orthodox Christianity, although influenced by other religions, generally looked negatively upon these syncretistic movements. Thus, Mbali-God is a creative response on the part of the Bira to the syncretic religious encounter. 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. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? This chapter includes information on: Download chapter 1 in full (6-page PDF, <1MB), 1 The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in the easternmost part of North East Africa, on the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. Conflicts Between African Traditional Religion and Christianity in 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. In the other case no such written record exists. My doctoral studies in New Testament eschatology led me also to the field of Christology. Yet . The word Vodou means spirit or deity in the Fon language of the African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was. The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. 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. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. religious syncretism, the fusion of diverse religious beliefs and practices. A close geographical correlation exists between the location of African religion and the rapid expansion of the Christian faith. (PDF) Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. In most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World, Tolerance and Tension: Islam and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa, Next: Chapter 2: Commitment to Christianity and Islam, Chapter 2: Commitment to Christianity and Islam, Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices, 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. I had it. 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). As the map also shows, the ratio of Christians to Muslims increases the further south one goes in the continent. Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. 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. He must have been active among African peoples as he was among the Jewish people. Unlike in Europe and the United States, very few people in sub-Saharan Africa say they are unaffiliated with a particular faith. These initiation rituals are already not as common in Africa as they were only 50 years ago, yet age-grade initiations have always helped young Africans feel connected to their community and their past. In Cameroon, Ethiopia, Liberia and Mozambique, Muslims account for between 15% and 30% of survey respondents. But the basic truth seems to be that Gods revelation is not confined to the biblical record. 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. Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. GAZETTE: It sounds like African indigenous religions are dynamic, inclusive, and flexible. Didnt our Lord let it be clearly known that "before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58)? OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition of the region about 100 years ago, when, according to a Pew Forum analysis of historical information from the World Religion Database, less than a quarter of the population identified as either Christian or Muslim. That finished the interview. 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. African spirituality is truly holistic. PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial African scholars Of course, behind all these factors is the Holy Spirit working through them. 0000001791 00000 n In three of the countries surveyed (Djibouti, Mali and Senegal), Muslims clearly outnumber Christians. /// Dans le nord-est du Zare, la communaut rurale Bira a t expose depuis plus de cinquante ans au message chrtien. I should also state that there are signs of the revival of African indigenous practices in many parts of Africa. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. The first African captives entered England's North American colonies through Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Revelation is given not in a vacuum but within particular historical experiences and reflections. OLUPONA: Yes, its a mixed bag because in the African diaspora mostly due to the slave trade starting in the 15th century indigenous African religions have spread and taken root all over the world, including in the United States and Europe. Today most Zairians belong to either the Catholic or Protestant church, and the Bira themselves are predominantly Catholic. I am not a historian, and I have not done careful thinking in this direction. The Encounter of Christian Faith and African Religion We can list some obvious and often publicized factors. 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. ), 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. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous religions. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Corrections? Olupona earned his bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 1975. There is no room to describe them, and I can mention only two or three of them briefly. Amen. 300 ce). According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. For over 200 years, Africans, largely from the west coast of Africa, were brought to the United States in the slave trade. 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. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . A subscription to Anthropologica is included in CASCA's annual membership fee. Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. I have seen the quest more sharply. 0000002264 00000 n In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. 0000002505 00000 n The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. I find the traditional Western distinction between "special revelation" and "general revelation" to be inadequate and unfreeing. 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. (See the glossary for more information on juju. Anthropologica is published for CASCA by University of Toronto Press. 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. 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. 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. 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: What allows African indigenous religions to be so accommodating? They constitute an important channel of the churchs prophetic witness today. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. That which had been seen as the enemy of the gospel turns out (to me) to be indeed a very welcoming friend. 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. The church is composed largely of people who come out of the African religious background. Corrections? Vodou is an oral tradition practiced by extended families that inherit familial spirits, along with the necessary devotional practices, from their elders. Religious syncretism - Encyclopedia Britannica | Britannica 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. Updates? This is not an empty coincidence. 0000008365 00000 n 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 . They will certainly be overwhelming, and I feel very excited about them. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God. 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. All too often, the result is conflict and radicalisation. 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. I have received much in a short period. Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. Religion Online is designed to assist teachers, scholars and general seekers who are interested in exploring religious issues. Ritual functionaries include priests, elders, rainmakers, diviners, and prophets. African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . 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. A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main Consequently, people are discovering that the biblical faith is not harmful to their religious sensibilities. Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? Holding or maintaining to a uniform doctrine is not the essence of indigenous African religions. There is even a community deep in the American Bible Belt in Beaufort County, S.C., called Oyotunji Village that practices a type of African indigenous religion, which is a mixture of Yoruba and Ewe-Fon spiritual practices. Most people in sub-Saharan Africa now identify with either Christianity or Islam. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. AP US History Period 1, APUSH Period 1 Flashcards | Quizlet "For us in Africa, God is not dead" -- and that applies whether or not there is a written record of his relations with and concern for people. <> What factors are responsible for it? But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. 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.
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