I was like a snail shyly peeping out of its house after a heavy thunderstorm. One of the things these diaspora African religions testify to is the beauty of African religions to engage a devotee on many spiritual levels. I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. 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. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, between 10% and 15% of respondents are Muslim. {PB,`s In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. 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). While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that 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. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by ones ethnic identity, where ones family came from 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. Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. Focuses on the influences of Africans and African ideas on the mission enterprise, conversion, religious innovation, and church life, but it neglects to cover the . The suppression of ancestor worship is the only area where mission Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. 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 amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. OLUPONA: My father, a faithful Anglican priest, was a good example. He later earned both an M.A. 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. Because of this, Africa is now home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim communities. Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors, Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects. Aujourd'hui, la plupart des Zariens sont soit catholiques, soit protestants; les Biras pour leur part sont principalement catholiques. Amen. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. 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. 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. 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. 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. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? Par contre, les croyances en la sorcellerie ont persist. The council made me aware, perhaps even frightfully so, of the problems of our world. Maybe this is why I am not an Anglican priest. Omissions? This chapter includes information on: Traditional African religious beliefs, such as belief in the protective power of sacrifices to ancestors Traditional African religious practices, such as owning sacred objects Download chapter 3 in full (3-page PDF, <1MB) Photo credit: Sebastien Desarmaux/GODONG/Godong/Corbis According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). 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. The more I peeped into African religious insights about God, the more I felt utterly unable to use the word "only" in this case. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. Orthodox Christianity, although influenced by other religions, generally looked negatively upon these syncretistic movements. Omissions? Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. 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. 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. Anthony Chiorazzi, who has an M.Phil. In the 17th century a movement led by the German Protestant theologian George Calixtus aimed at reconciling the differences between the Protestants in Germany, but his efforts were disparaged by orthodox Christian leaders as syncretistic. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. 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. 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. Indigenous religion in Africa is the way Africans understand and worship their god. PDF Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The postcolonial It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect. 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. I had it. <>stream 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. Yet . As the map also shows, the ratio of Christians to Muslims increases the further south one goes in the continent. 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. Updates? 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. It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. (See the glossary for more information on juju. Islam has experienced a similar rapid growth. 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. 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). GAZETTE: Are ancestors considered deities in the traditional African cosmology? I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. 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. One important task, then, is to see the nature, the method and the implications of Gods revelation among African peoples, in the light of the biblical record of the same revelation. First, the association of traditional African religion with an other-worldly orientation may appear problematic, given the "pragmatic" basis of this religion. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. A conference of mainly African theologians, held in Ghana in December 1977, said in its final communiqu: "The God of history speaks to all peoples in particular ways. 0000014025 00000 n These statements await further exploration by African theologians. 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"). Christianity: An African traditional religion - ghanaweb.com Christianity has scored a triumph over the traditional religious life of the Bira. 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. Of course, behind all these factors is the Holy Spirit working through them. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. (a) The Structures of African Traditional Religions: Sometimes it is a difficult task among scholars to choose a unanimous name for the religious traditions and beliefs of the African people. 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. Indigenous African spirituality today is increasingly falling out of favor. (PDF) Christianity and the African traditional religion(s): The 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. 0000001586 00000 n w?0t7/Oa84P]T}T}?gHq.qsRnkc;]X*s1!E"l^~K_/|j p z|9~p uf:}[Mc|4!#"Zg!/vc _~|oyuQ'dX :?NmU)?oPSw?6#?[OUN@6oz{j;\e7nWsV~XyU4vMm4#f4c:[Wefkd&88XB|cMh6)mt<4M8}; *:7??+0:0$! 300 ce). 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. PDF African American Christianity - Harvard University For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. 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. Awolawu and Depamu (1979) 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. ), 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. 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 They will certainly be overwhelming, and I feel very excited about them. Alternate titles: Vaudou, Vodun, Voodoo, Voudou, vodon, Elizabeth McAlister Associate Professor of Religion, Weslyan University. A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. As a resident fellow, Sherman will teach a study group on negotiation and diplomacy this semester. Foreign religions simply dont have that same connection to the African continent. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). Some people tried to involve Africa in the debate. Its consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. 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. %PDF-1.7 % The spirituality of Africa - Harvard Gazette An old African adage says: The sky is large enough for birds to fly around without one having to bump into the other.. 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). African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. In most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. Since Christianity came in contact with the traditional religion, there has always been a sharp conflict between traditionalists and Christians. 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. 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. Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. PDF Traditional African Religion and Modern Christianity in Zaire - JSTOR I have met here the church not only in its geographical outreach but also in its historical roots -- seeing, for example, the rich traditions of the Orthodox Church, the universality of the Roman Catholic Church (even though it is based in the Vatican), the reconciling positioning of the Anglican Communion, the dynamic vitality of African independent churches, and so on. But for many Africans, religion can never be separated from all these. << /Length 5 0 R /Filter /FlateDecode >> 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. This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . 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. xref 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. He went on to conduct some of the most significant research on African religions in decades. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Instead, God brought them. 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. That is anathema to the fundamentalist faith movements that have been gaining momentum in recent decades. The God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. Regardless of the variation, it is still true that Nigeria has both the largest number of Muslims and the largest number of Christians in the region. Chapter 3: Traditional African Religious Beliefs and Practices In this case, so-called "salvation history" must widen its outreach in order to embrace the horizons of other peoples histories. % And if these shrines are not properly cared for by the designated descendant, then misfortune in the form of illness might befall the caretaker. GAZETTE: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. GAZETTE: How have ancestors played a role in traditional societies? 0000002264 00000 n Abstract. 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. OLUPONA: We would lose a worldview that has collectively sustained, enriched, and given meaning to a continent and numerous other societies for centuries through its epistemology, metaphysics, history, and practices. Chapter 1: Religious Affiliation | Pew Research Center African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. African Christianity - African Studies - Oxford Bibliographies - obo 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. 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. 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. In 1900 there were an estimated 9 million Christians (accounting for about 7 per cent of the population of Africa). (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. 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). 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. 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.