History of african traditional religion pdf

God, divinities and spirits in african traditional religious. This thesis will operate with the following definition of african traditional religion, put forward by julius mutugi gathogo. The concept of god, divinities and spirits in african traditional religious ontology has been so misunderstood by many scholars to the point of seeing africans as people who did not know the. Religion enters into every aspect of the life of the africans and it cannot be studied in isolation. When we speak of african traditional religion, we mean the indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the africans. Africa is a massive continent with diverse religious traditions, to the extent that within the same tradition there have been variations. African traditional religion in a globalizing world. A critical analysis on african traditional religion and the. Oral literature encompasses fables, folktales, legends myths and proverbs. In general, it can be said that christians in kavango consider christianity and traditional african religion as a continuum, not as opposites. Oct 06, 2015 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. They compare their prechristian era with the old testament. He discusses ods transcendence and immanence, and ods works such as creating, sustaining, judging, protecting, and helping.

Since independence, religions has also played a role in various armed con. Traditional african cultural practices paved the way for foreign way of doing things as africans became fully westernised. It further studies the difficulties involved in this study and future of african traditional religion. Generally, these traditions are oral rather than scriptural, 2 3 include belief in an amount of higher and lower gods, sometimes including a supreme creator, belief in spirits, veneration of the dead, use of magic and traditional african medicine. And so one of the things we want to do in this study is focus on how atr, african traditional religion has worked itself out in. African religions and philosophy is a systematic study of the attitudes of mind and belief that have evolved in the many societies of africa. African christianity african studies oxford bibliographies.

Reflection on christianity and traditional religion in. African traditional religion is a thriving scholarly business, but a serious disconnect exists between contributions that celebrate a generalized african traditional religion and those that describe particular religions and aspects of religion on the basis of ethnographic and archival research. African independent church origins, african independent. African religious and cultural values of ghanaians, which emphasize family unity, community participation, love and sense of family belonging. And west africa has had a long tradition of trade with europeans and north african muslims, and therefore weve had a lot of contact with the history of west africa.

African traditional religion south african history online. In the history of the indigenous religion in african, it does not seem that anyone in any african community, has ever claimed to have. It is described as the product of thinking and experience of african forefathers and mothers of former generations. Its study has to go handin hand with the study of the people who practise the religion. The teaching of african traditional religion in primary schools in zimbabwe. The practice of sexuality in africa presents many difficulties to researchers and scholars due to the ambiguity of beliefs and attitudes in traditional cultures and religions. The history of africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans andat least 200,000 years agoanatomically modern humans homo sapiens, in east africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states.

History of religions ination marks it off from those that depend on gods or spirits possessing mediums or omen animals. Points of contrast between african traditional religion and christianity god the understanding of god normally needs some refining when one comes from african traditional religion to be a christian. Traditional african religion is based on oral traditions, which means that the basic values and way of life are passed from elders to younger generation. A critical analysis on african traditional religion and the trinity article pdf available in hts teologiese studies theological studies 691. African traditional religion has grown out of the african soil. It should be noted that any attempt to generalize about the nature of african religions risks wrongly implying that there is homogeneity among all african cultures. Traditional african religions generally believe in an afterlife, one or more spirit worlds, and ancestor worship is an important basic concept in mostly all african religions. The impact of african traditional religious beliefs and. Sexuality is even more problematic in the received world religions and global popular cultures of postcolonial african modernity. Although christianity and islam have added distinct elements to african religions, each has been and continued to be adapted to and shaped by.

African traditional religion, mainly by the west and also by some africans themselves who very often, out of sheer ignorance, misinformation have not bothered to know it. The traditional african religions or traditional beliefs and practices of african people are a set of highly diverse beliefs that includes various ethnic religions. Missiologists have worked more broadly on a correlation of christianity with african culture as a whole, speaking in terms of an ethnotheology. African religions, religious beliefs and practices of the peoples of africa.

It is necessary to have the perception of the basic concept of the word conflict before exploring the extensive area of conflicts between african traditional religion and christianity. Atr is a religion that was practised throughout africa before the arrival of the western missionaries. Today, the continents various populations and individuals are mostly adherents of christianity, islam, and to a lesser extent several traditional african religions. These traditions are not religious principles, but a cultural identity that is passed on through stories, myths and tales. Instead of god keeping his distance from man, he, throughout history and today reaches down in love to draw humans toward him. American evangelical christianity as well as the arab cultural package of islam. Traditional religion as a source of african theology just as christian theology is. Some african religions adopted different views through the influence of islam or even hinduism. List of books and articles about african religions.

The paper also considers the concept of evil, ethics, justice and time in african traditional religion. The main objective of this paper is to examine african culture and values. However, they need clarification of the role that their traditional religion, including aspects such as ancestor veneration, belief in spirits and traditional approaches to healing, should play in their lives. Distortion of facts in western ethnographic study of african religion, culture and society etim e. African christianity is at a crossroads, since a large number of african christians in. This paper primarily addresses the controversy among scholars on whether oral traditions such as myths, songs, wise sayings, incantations, invocations, legends, etc. Mbiti portrays traditional african religions as essentially monotheistic, despite a plethora of divinities and spirits. The purpose of this is to help to orient a person who would like to work in the context of africa.

This section has texts on the traditional spirituality of subsaharan africa, as well as their descendants in the new world. Because indigenous societies are mainly nonliterate, oral traditions expressed in poetry, proverbs, and mythic narratives are sources of african literary. Totemism is manifested in various forms and types in different contexts and is most often found among populations whose traditional economies relied on hunting and gathering, mixed farming with hunting and gathering, or emphasized the raising of cattle. Western culture now is regarded as frontline civilisation. This is a 3hour summary lecture on the basic components of african traditional religions. The term totemism has been used to characterize a cluster of traits in the religion and in the social organization of many peoples. For more on african religions, see the related oxford bibliographies articles on african traditional religion and islam in africa. African traditional religion african studies oxford. Religion gives meaning and value to all forms of african artistic expression, including literature, music, visual art, and dance. This implies that there is no tension between the major elements of african traditional religions and. A critical analysis on african traditional religion and. What are the advantages and disadvantages of african. It does not exist in a vacuum or up there in the blues but among humans.

The place of african traditional religion in interreligious encounters in sierra leone since the advent of islam and christianity is my own work and that all the sources that i have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. The three main religious traditions african traditional religion, christianity, and islamconstitute the triple religious heritage of the african continent. African traditional religion the faith in ancestors continued to be practised by many african christians. In four countries, for instance, half or more of the population believes that sacrifices to ancestors or spirits can protect them from harm. The african continent experienced its own form of training and learning before it was colonized and even before the arrival of the missionaries. Oyeshile department of philosophy, university of ibadan, ibadan, nigeria introduction the definition of philosophy has remained a perennial philosophical problem and there is little agreement as to what it is. African religions this entry presents a brief, general picture of africa s traditional religious heritage, focusing on the major beliefs because these underlie the general attitudes of individuals and society and shape their worldview. African people relate to or worship god through praying, singing and dancing, making sacrificial offerings, dedications and invoking blessings.

Conflicts between african traditional religion and. 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. Finding books about african religion and spiritual beliefs in the public domain was not difficult. Characteristics of african religion a supreme being. Africa s influential university departments of religion have usually approached the theme in terms of establishing correlations between christianity and africa s traditional religions. African traditional religions articles about traditional religions in zimbabwe in shona and ndebele religion, god, or the supreme being, is seen as the creator and sustainer of the universe in much the same manner as within christianity. African religion and its influence on christianity and. Kids learn about the history of traditional religions in ancient africa including spirits, the role of ancestors, rites of passage, rituals, facts, and the role of magic in the everyday lives of the people. When they prayed god through their forefathers, it was like praying the god of abraham, isaac and jacob. Myth and oral history are integral elements of african peoples culture and indigenous african peoples often understand history as accounts of events as narrated in stories, legends, myths and songs. Traditional religion, especially in africa, like all other religions of the world, have stories, myths, magic, beliefs, many performatives, lessons to learn, objects of worship, rewards for actions, be such actions good or bad and many other distinguishing properties. Various terms are used to refer to the indigenous religious heritage, including african religion, african tradition. An underlying assumption of wisdom divination is that the forces ordering events are not whimsical or personally willful, as might be the case with gods or. With africa subjugated and dominated, the western culture and european mode of civilisation began to thrive and outgrow african cultural heritage.

These books have a great amount of useful information on this topic, some of it written before colonialism destroyed or. Traditional religion and healing in subsaharan africa and the diaspora. The advantages of african traditional education include passing on of essential values from the community as well as defining the roles of both boys and girls distinctly. In this second edition, dr mbiti has updated his material to include the involvement of women in religion, and the potential unity to be found in what was once thought to be a mass of quite separate religions. Some scholars claim that african independent churches are syncretistic in that they combine indigenous african religion with christian beliefs, but the degree to which this occurs is varying. Sexuality, african religiocultural traditions and modernity.

Pdf god, divinities and spirits in african traditional. Th e report then zooms in on east africa, where the three religious families of traditional religion, islam and christianity are all present in large numbers. For instance, the claim that the values and principles of african morality are not founded on religion simply derives from the characterization of traditional african religion as a nonrevealed religion. Characteristics of african religion 1769 words bartleby. Pdf the teaching of african traditional religion in. The literature on african christianity is huge and often characterized by diverse colonial and religious perspectives and biases, requiring one to read it critically. Outside cultures have been one of the biggest influences on african traditional religions. During the early days of missionaries, travellers, anthropologists and historians, there was no acceptance of any existence of anything called african history fage 1970. These traditions have been passed from one generation to the next. Christianity and the african traditional religions. Okon department of religious and cultural studies university of calabar, nigeria abstract this paper will identify some of the fundamental short comings in african ethnographic studies undertaken by europeans in the nineteenth century. 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.

Pdf a critical analysis on african traditional religion and. Religion in africa is multifaceted and has been a major influence on art, culture and philosophy. The core premise of atr is the maintenance of african culture and its main feature is loyalty to the ancestors and the accompanying rituals that express this loyalty. In fact, africa is a vast continent encompassing both geographic variation and tremendous cultural diversity. African religion and its influence on christianity and islam traditional african religion has been the basis of spirituality for the people of africa. The african continent to understand african religion, it helps to look at africa itself. Welcome to the summary lecture of african traditional religions. African traditional religions and african arts dovetail. Oral sources and the study of african traditional religion george i. The practice and the involvement in ancestral rituals should be seen as religiously motivated. Culture, tradition, custom, law and gender equality mj maluleke culture is like an umbrella under which some people like to hide from rain, and also to shade themselves from the sun.

Zuesse divination and deity in african religions divination as a spiritual phenomenon has had very little written about it, perhaps due in part to the ready labeling of it as a form of magic and therefore irrational, utilitarian, egoistic, and insuffici ently religious. Points of contrast between african traditional religion. The religious beliefs, practices and the provision of social services of these immigrant religions have impacted on the religious and cultural life of the traditional communities. This is the complete text of what is african traditional religion. Throughout most of africa there is belief of a supreme being, described by one or more names, either in terms of activities or place of abode.