Sign up for daily emails to get the latest Harvardnews. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. 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. The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), myst (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. What factors are responsible for it? %PDF-1.7 % It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and . 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 it is nevertheless a working Yes and one that demands theological understanding. Y.91sC@o9sJL9@XMw`7\`1%nRjBS %U=a{N>. They include the work of missionaries (of whom there are about 40,000 today, without counting their family members); the work of African Christians in evangelism and pastoral care (their numbers are infinitely greater than those of overseas missionaries, and include men, women and children, both lay and ordained); the role of Christian schools; the translation and distribution of the Bible (which is now available in full or in part in nearly 600 of Africas 1,000 languages); and the ending of the colonial era during the decades 1960-1980. Fewer say it is paramount to their faith to attend religious services (39%), avoid sex before marriage (30%) or oppose abortion . 0000005005 00000 n He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. The decisive word here is "only." For six years I worked with the World Council of Churches in Geneva. 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. A magisterial historical synthesis of the formative period of African Christianity written by one of its foremost scholars. Because of this, Africa is now home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim communities. 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 . 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. 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. 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). But today that is not the case due to more exclusive-minded types of Christianity and Islam that see patronizing indigenous African beliefs and practices as violating the integrity of their Christian or Muslim principles, but I believe that one can maintain ones religious integrity and also embrace an African worldview. (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. Orthodox Christianity, although influenced by other religions, generally looked negatively upon these syncretistic movements. While African Traditional religion (ATR) is paramount, it is the purpose of this article to suggest that Rituals are aimed at maintaining a harmonious relationship with cosmic powers, and many have associated myths that explain their significance. Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. 0000000016 00000 n 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. According to all the major surveys, Christianity and Islam each represent approximately 40 percent of the African population. While Islam and Christianity tend to . In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. At many points I see intriguing parallels between the biblical record and African religiosity. We have already noted that the overseas missionaries did not bring God to Africa. 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. 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. xref African Traditional Religion in the Context of increasing Christian and Islamic Encounter . Then was he not there in other times and in such places as Mount Fuji and Mount Kenya, as well as Mount Sinai? 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. endobj 0000001519 00000 n Religious pluralism serves peace. Additionally, I will not discourage, disparage, or try and convert those who practice their form of African indigenous 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. For example, an African amulet might have inside of it a written verse from either the Koran or Christian Bible. 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. 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). They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . 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. All too often, the result is conflict and radicalisation. 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%. (1981) and Ph.D. (1983) in the history of religions from Boston University. Indigenous African religions are pragmatic. 0000005714 00000 n 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. 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. They proclaimed the name of Jesus Christ. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. The Pew Forums survey finds a similar number of people in Guinea Bissau identifying themselves as Muslim (38%) but a much higher percentage identifying themselves as Christian (62%) and very few describing themselves mainly as practitioners of traditional African faiths. I simply and honestly answered him that "for us in Africa, God is not dead." Subscriptions are available to libraries and individuals who are not members of CASCA. A semi-annual journal, it publishes peer-reviewed articles in both French and English devoted to social and cultural issues whether they are pre-historic, historic, contemporary, biological, linguistic, applied or theoretical in orientation. For this reason, some African theologians take African religiosity to be one of the sources of theological reflection (besides the Bible, Christian heritage, etc.). The word Vodou means spirit or deity in the Fon language of the African kingdom of Dahomey (now Benin). This is not a biblical distinction. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. It includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. In the other case no such written record exists. In Africa the traditional religions are a major source for the study of the African experience of God. I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. Corrections? L'interdiction de pratiquer le culte des anctres est l'unique domaine dans lequel la mission chrtienne a triomph de la vie religieuse traditionnelle des Biras. Humans are spirits who inhabit the visible world. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. <>stream It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. 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. 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. The missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa in the past 200 years did not bring God to our continent. These were not empty names. They will certainly be overwhelming, and I feel very excited about them. 0000002505 00000 n But I feel that the issue of looking at African history in light of the biblical understanding of history is clearly called for. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 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 of sins. As the map in the preface to this report shows, sub-Saharan Africa is much more religiously mixed than northern Africa, where the population is overwhelmingly Muslim. Indigenous Religion (AIR) in Africa. 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. 75 19 in social anthropology from Oxford University, is studying for a master of theological studies (M.T.S.) In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. 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. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. This was an extremely liberating word in my theological thinking. 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. Omissions? 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. 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. There are also secret societies, called Bizango or Sanpwl, that perform a religio-juridical function. 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. It was during the Belgian colonial period that the first Catholic and Protestant missionaries came to this region of Zaire. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. 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. Consequently, people are discovering that the biblical faith is not harmful to their religious sensibilities. 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. 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. Updates? Christianity is more dominant in the south, while Islam is more dominant in the north. Since Christianity and Islam spread across Africa, many people there have observed a mixture of religious practices. Spiritual activities like prayer, thanksgiving, and the making of sacrifices were well-established facts of life for the existence and continuation of the community. (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax Islam And Christianity Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. This approach is intended to shed further light on the problem of African cultural influence and . 0000002264 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. But Gods dealings with the African people are recorded, nevertheless, in living form -- oral communication, rituals, symbols, ceremonies, community faith. OLUPONA: Your question underscores an important facet about African spirituality: It is not a closed theological system. But I have discovered that there is also the fundamental factor of African religion, without which this phenomenal expansion of Christianity would not be a reality. Vodou is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. Christianity in Africa dates to the very inception of the church. In three of the countries surveyed (Djibouti, Mali and Senegal), Muslims clearly outnumber Christians. 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. 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. 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. Request Permissions, Published By: Canadian Anthropology Society. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect. I was like a snail shyly peeping out of its house after a heavy thunderstorm. Africans consequently played a crucial role in establishing the doctrines and theology of the early church. Robinson, came out. (+1) 202-419-4372 | Media Inquiries. Read our research on: Congress | Economy | Gender. 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. 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. I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. This includes five countries (Cameroon, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal) where more than half the population uses traditional healers. 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. It sensitized my thinking in many areas, one of these being the quest for Christian unity. 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$! It may be, and needs to be, a qualified and critical Yes. I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. trailer Since Christianity came in contact with the traditional religion, there has always been a sharp conflict between traditionalists and Christians. %%EOF Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa.