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. Anthropologica Ancestors also serve as intermediaries (see ancestor worship). In most countries, however, less than one-in-twenty say this is their primary religious affiliation. 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). 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 consequences for theological and ecclesiological developments are yet to be faced. OLUPONA: The role of ancestors in the African cosmology has always been significant. 0000000016 00000 n This is, obviously, a general statement, one which needs detailed elaboration. Some individuals have criticized these books -- and no book is perfect. 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. These statements await further exploration by African theologians. This rapid spreading of the Christian faith where people have been predominantly followers of African religion provokes interesting questions. 0000002026 00000 n For the full article, see, New religions, independent churches, and prophetic movements, https://www.britannica.com/summary/African-religions. Belief in the power of such objects is highest in Senegal (75%) and lowest in Rwanda (5%). 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. And in Botswana, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia, the survey finds that 5% or less identify as Muslim. 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. GAZETTE: In trying to understand African spirituality, is it helpful to refer to it as polytheistic or monotheistic? mixing of Christianity and traditional African religions What were maroon communities? He went on to conduct some of the most significant research on African religions in decades. 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. God is not insensitive to the history of peoples other than Israel. But it is nevertheless a working Yes and one that demands theological understanding. 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. But to the disappointment of those theological exporters, this fish was not attracted by the bait. Omissions? Some Africans believe that the ancestors are equal in power to deities, while others believe they are not. 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. 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. At Makerere University I taught New Testament, African religion and other courses. As the map also shows, the ratio of Christians to Muslims increases the further south one goes in the continent. 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. 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. Some people tried to involve Africa in the debate. X0#J++?U;_3_gmx9[F\"{,Um1yu 9 ?ce%9EG`N: &U0EHC$p4=$'=DlX6M_7,--" I completed my doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge in 1963, the year that Honest to God, by J.A.T. 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. x\u}4`P}E#(9q"%LCl'KLb)Sfgdq N Indeed, ten years ago I had no significant theological position. 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. My doctoral studies in New Testament eschatology led me also to the field of Christology. What factors are responsible for it? endobj Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer, By Anthony Chiorazzi Harvard Correspondent. 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. 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. The amount of devotees to indigenous practices has dwindled as Islam and Christianity have both spread and gained influence throughout the continent. He has researched and written about such diverse religious cultures as the Hare Krishnas, Zoroastrians, Shakers, and the Old Order Amish. Y.91sC@o9sJL9@XMw`7\`1%nRjBS %U=a{N>. In five countries (Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal and Mali) majorities express this belief. 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 read Honest to God and a variety of other works in an effort to understand the hot debate then raging in Europe and America. That testifies to the enduring power of indigenous religion and its ability to domesticate Christianity and Islam in modern Africa. 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. Because of this, Africa is now home to some of the world's largest Christian and Muslim communities. In 1988 the society changed its name to the Canadian Anthropology Society to clarify its identity and emphasize its role as an anthropology association. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. GAZETTE: How would you define indigenous African religions? He sees the other faith as complementing and even adding spiritual potency to his own spiritual practice of constructing effective amulets. 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. It is essentially a postcolonial approach to what AIR and its essential characteristics is: God and humanity, sacrifices, afterlife and ancestors. 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. The unseen world is populated by lwa (spirits), myst (mysteries), anvizib (the invisibles), zanj (angels), and the spirits of ancestors and the recently deceased. (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. 0000001586 00000 n 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. What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S. But after braving that first blizzard in a land far from his native Nigeria, Olupona stuck it out and earned his Ph.D. I cannot claim that I have witnessed much progress in that quest at the organizational level, but perhaps I had expected too much. 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. 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. "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. African religions, Indigenous religions of the African continent. The Pew Forums survey found 52% of the population is Muslim. Its about getting tangible results. Oxford: Clarendon, 1994. Its aim is to develop an extensive library of resources, representing many different points of view, but all written from the perspective of sound scholarship. 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%). Copyright by The Christian Century Foundation; used by permission. This material was prepared for Religion Online by Ted and Winnie Brock. Foreign religions simply dont have that same connection to the African continent. 0000001198 00000 n Spirit possession plays an important role in Afro-Haitian religion, as it does in many other world religions. 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: What will Africa lose if it loses its African indigenous worldview? Current articles and subscription information can be found at www.christiancentury.org. The more I peeped into African religious insights about God, the more I felt utterly unable to use the word "only" in this case. 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. 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. African religion has equipped people to listen to the gospel, to discover meaningful passages in the Bible, and to avoid unhealthy religious conflict.
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