X0#J++?U;_3_gmx9[F\"{,Um1yu 9 ?ce%9EG`N: &U0EHC$p4=$'=DlX6M_7,--" While Islam and Christianity tend to . The Church in Africa, 1450-1950. Aujourd'hui, la plupart des Zariens sont soit catholiques, soit protestants; les Biras pour leur part sont principalement catholiques. Vodou is a worldview encompassing philosophy, medicine, justice, and religion. "The success of Christianity and Islam on the African continent in the last 100 years has been extraordinary, but it has been, unfortunately, at the expense of African indigenous religions," said Olupona. 0000000016 00000 n Didnt our Lord let it be clearly known that "before Abraham was I am" (John 8:58)? Yet . 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. 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. 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. The previous year I had published African Religions and Philosophy (Doubleday, 1969). Updates? Unlike in Europe and the United States, very few people in sub-Saharan Africa say they are unaffiliated with a particular faith. 43. Their culture, history, world views and spiritual aspirations cannot be taken away from them. What is African Traditional Religion? Awolawu and Depamu (1979) 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 want to walk with Jesus of Nazareth on the shores of Lake Galilee and the hillsides of Judea, through the gates of Jerusalem. Moreover, the religions developed in the Americas impact Africa in that devotees of the African diaspora have significant influence on practices in Africa. 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. 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. 0000003217 00000 n In most countries surveyed, at least three-in-ten people believe in reincarnation, which may be related to traditional beliefs in ancestral spirits. OLUPONA: One of the basic reasons is that indigenous African spiritual beliefs are not bound by a written text, like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Yoruba diviners, for example, draw on this extensive indigenous knowledge every day by consulting Ifa, an extensive literary corpus of information covering science, medicine, cosmology, and metaphysics. Yet consider that in 1900 most Africans in sub-Saharan Africa practiced a form of indigenous African religions. (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main 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. A prominent European New Testament professor visited Makerere University and interviewed me on what I thought about the "death of God" discussion. ), 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. Corrections? 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. 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. After that date there will be more Christians in the south than in the north. 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. The more I peeped into African religious insights about God, the more I felt utterly unable to use the word "only" in this case. 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. 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. Since I myself had never heard any lectures on African religion, I set out to do research on the subject in order to teach the course adequately. stream Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. Ritual sacrifices and witchcraft beliefs are still common. The rural Bira of northeastern Zaire have been exposed to the Christian message for well over half a century. 0000002884 00000 n Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. degree at Harvard Divinity School. I want to see his healing hand, to hear his word that exorcises evil spirits. Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. 0000001019 00000 n 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 . No doubt there still remain much research and reflection to be done in order to work out a consistent theological understanding of the issues entailed here. GAZETTE: But yet you said its a mixed bag? Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. %PDF-1.3 Some scholars choose to call it the African Traditional Religion, while others prefer to name it the African traditional Religions. In most of the 19 countries surveyed by the Pew Research Centers Forum on Religion & Public Life, 90% or more of the respondents say they belong to one of these faiths. 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. %%EOF 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"). Its fundamental principle is that everything is spirit. <> My research into and teaching of African religion has led to another important area of development. 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. I told my father that I was coming home, he recalled. This includes five countries (Cameroon, Chad, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal) where more than half the population uses traditional healers. 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. v6 -j>,>Or%I&!To !{vgrh7xxDs}d[!$8k1zX+@}~ 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. 0000001519 00000 n 1996 Canadian Anthropology Society Some people tried to involve Africa in the debate. Updates? C'est l'poque de la colonisation belge que les premiers missionnaires catholiques et protestants sont arrivs dans cette rgion du Zare. They derive from traditional African religions with some influence from other religious traditions, notably Christianity and Islam . 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. Religion Online is designed to assist teachers, scholars and general seekers who are interested in exploring religious issues. 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. Vodou, also spelled Voodoo, Voudou, Vodun, or French Vaudou, a traditional Afro-Haitian religion. There is no centralized hierarchy, no single leader, and no official spokesperson, but various groups sometimes attempt to create such official structures. 75 19 Indigenous religion in Africa is the way Africans understand and worship their god. This massive expansion within a short time is unprecedented in the history of Christianity. 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. 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. I feel deeply the value of biblical studies in this exercise, and the contribution of biblical insights in this development. OLUPONA: Yes, and the pluralistic nature of African-tradition religion is one of the reasons for its success in the diaspora. In these congregations, knowledge is passed on through a ritual of initiation (kanzo) in which the body becomes the site of spiritual transformation. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. This is in sharp contrast with the religious composition . 0000001791 00000 n