scholarly journals Portrayal of Religious Syncretism in Akiki Nyabongo’s Novel: Africa Answers Back

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Mary Naula
Keyword(s):  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Foreseeable Future ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
African Religions ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Religious Syncretism ◽  
Religious Thoughts ◽  
African Traditional Religions

Akiki Nyabongo’s novel, “Africa answers back”, reveals that religious syncretism in Africa is a reality that has persistently painted Christianity as an offshoot of traditional African religions. Using qualitative content analysis that looks at the text for themes, meaning and underlying values, the study critically analyses the two major religious thoughts of African Traditional Religions and Christianity in the context of the rite of passage – pregnancy, naming, baptism, marriage, death and burial. The study found out that religious syncretism as portrayed in Africa Answers Back is evident in all the major rites of passage. The conflict portrayed between the two religious beliefs shows that syncretism is a major issue today among African Christians and it is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. I conclude that most African Christians will take long to detach themselves from traditional African religious beliefs, because their way of life and practices are rooted in African traditional religion. I recommend continuous negotiations between African traditional religions and Christianity as each has something to offer to enrich their respective faiths.

John Mbiti on the Monotheistic Attribution of African Traditional Religions: A Refutation

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-34
Author(s):  
Adeolu Oluwaseyi Oyekan
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Religion ◽  
African Religions ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Belief In God ◽  
Abrahamic Religions ◽  
African Traditional Religion ◽  
Religious Cultures ◽  
African Traditional Religions

John Mbiti, in his attempt to disprove the charge of paganism by EuroAmerican ethnographic and anthropological scholars against African Traditional Religions argues that traditional African religions are monotheistic. He insists that these traditional religious cultures have the same conception of God as found in the Abrahamic religions. The shared characteristics, according to him are foundational to the spread of the “gospel” in Africa. Mbiti’s effort, though motivated by the desire to refute the imperial charge of inferiority against African religions ran, I argue, into a conceptual and descriptive conflation of ATRs with monotheistic faiths. In this paper, I challenge the superimposition of Judeo-Christian categories upon African religions. I argue that monotheism is just a strand, out of many, that expresses belief in God(s), and that it differs substantially from the polytheistic pre-colonial African understanding of religion. I provide a panentheistic paradigm using traditional Igbo ontology and religion to refute Mbiti’s generalization. Keywords: Monotheism, African Traditional Religion, Igbo, Paganism, Theology.

scholarly journals African religions as “parables of the Kingdom”?

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-109
Author(s):  
Tim Hartman
Keyword(s):  
Jesus Christ ◽  
Good News ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Church Dogmatics ◽  
Cultural Assumptions ◽  
African Religions ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Sacred And Profane ◽  
African Traditional Religions ◽  
Cultural Media

This article engages Swiss theologian Karl Barth’s understanding of true words of revelation coming through cultural media (“parables of the Kingdom” in Church Dogmatics IV/3, §69.2) in juxtaposition with Ghanaian theologian Kwame Bediako’s understanding of African traditional religions as “evangelical preparation” for the Christian faith, claiming that since God has been active among Africans for millennia, Africans have been worshipping the same God as Christians. In contrast, Barth understands Jesus Christ to be prophetically proclaiming a message of good news that opposes many (Western) cultural assumptions. Barth’s understanding of Jesus Christ as the “Light of Life” serves to desacralize the Christian community and the Biblical Scriptures and collapses the categories of “sacred” and “profane.” Eliminating this binary categorization opens the possibility of affirming traditional African religions as media of revelation.

scholarly journals African Beliefs in Buchi Emecheta’s Writings

2020 ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
Dr. Epounda Mexan Serge ◽  
Dr. Bokotiabato Mokogna Zéphirin
Keyword(s):  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Woman Writer ◽  
Major Influence ◽  
African Woman ◽  
African Culture ◽  
Buchi Emecheta ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
African Religions ◽  
African People ◽  
Traditional Religions

The belief in Africa is multifaceted and has been a major influence on art, culture and philosophy. Today, the continent's various populations and individuals are mostly adherents of Christianity, Islam, and to a lesser extent several traditional African religions. In Christian or Islamic communities, religious beliefs are also sometimes characterized with syncretism with the beliefs and practices of traditional religions. However, a close look at African people shows that they are largely rooted on other sort of beliefs that we intend to scrutinize throughout this study. Thus, this paper aims not only at identifying existing beliefs in African culture but also at showing their sacredness in the life of people based on the writings of the African woman writer, Buchi Emecheta.

scholarly journals Prosperity Theology and African Traditional Religion

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew T Court
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Religion ◽  
African Religion ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Religious Worldview ◽  
Prosperity Theology ◽  
African Traditional Religion ◽  
African Traditional Religions ◽  
Do So

Studies of Prosperity Theology in Africa have increased as research into Pentecostalism has burgeoned, but few theological analyses have explored the significance of African Traditional Religions and their role in shaping Prosperity Theology. While some studies have explored the resonance of Prosperity Theology and African Traditional Religions, they tend to do so briefly, or with a focus on sociology rather than theology. Through a case study of Nigerian Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, this research tests the thesis that many have intuited: Prosperity Theology resonates with traditional African religion, and these resonances contribute to an explanation of the expression and proliferation of Prosperity Theology in Africa. Evaluating the resonance of Oyakhilome’s teaching with African Traditional Religions (relying especially on John S. Mbiti’s work) demonstrates that Oyakhilome’s emphasis on accessing blessing, spiritual enemies, and activating power draws heavily on the resources of the typical African religious worldview.

scholarly journals TOWARDS A CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO AFRICA TRADITIONAL RELIGION

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-131
Author(s):  
Nadi Maria de Almeida
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Local Religion ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
The People ◽  
Religious Dialogue ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Theological Challenge ◽  
African Traditional Religions

Inter-Religious dialogue is a demand for the mission. Based on the theological investigation of scholars who explore and write on the subject, the article analyses the theological challenge of Inter-Religious dialogue especially in approaching African Traditional Religions. The discussion concerns the Christian theology of religious pluralism with the local religion in Africa looking at the theological progress, not just from the abstract world of books, but also, from connecting with the life of the people, appreciating and connecting points of convergences with the local culture and religions. Still, a long way to go on the reflection and there needs to open wider our vision concerning the action of the Spirit that has been always present in Africa.  

A IMPORTÂNCIA DE ROGER BASTIDE COMO UM “DIVISOR DE ÁGUAS” PARA OS ESTUDOS DAS RELIGIÕES AFRO-BRASILEIRAS

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 005
Author(s):  
Sergio Sezino Douets Vasconcelos ◽  
Aerton Alexander de Carvalho Silva
Keyword(s):  
Complex Network ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
African Religions ◽  
Black Person ◽  
Religious Syncretism ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Brazilian Studies ◽  
Afro Brazilian

Este artigo busca compreender a importância das pesquisas de Roger Bastide, como um provocador da virada epistemológica nos estudos afro-brasileiros, marcando um novo lugar de percepção, a partir do qual se vem buscando analisar as ricas e complexas redes de construção no seio das religiões e religiosidades afro-brasileiras. Bastide foi o primeiro pesquisador no Brasil que buscou, de forma interdisciplinar, compreender a construção das religiões africanas no Brasil, a partir da perspectiva do próprio negro. O presente trabalho busca apresentar alguns momentos dos estudos afro-brasileiros sobre o sincretismo afro-católico, como cenário para compreender o salto qualitativo que a pesquisa de Roger Bastide provocou nos estudos sobre o sincretismo afro-católico no Brasil.Palavras-chave: Roger Bastide, Sincretismo afro-católico, Sincretismo religiosoTHE IMPORTANCE OF ROGER BASTIDE AS A "TURNING POINT" FOR THE STUDIES OF AFRO-BRAZILIAN RELIGIONSAbstract:This article aims to understand the researches of Roger Bastide, as a provocateur of the “epistemological turn”, in Afro-Brazilian studies, marking a new perception from which one has been searching analyzing the rich and complex network of construction within religions and Afro-Brazilian religiosities. Bastide was the first researcher in Brazil who sought, in an interdisciplinary way, to understand the construction of African religions in Brazil, from the perspective of the black person/black himself. The present study seeks to present some moments of Afro-Brazilian studies on Afro-Catholic syncretism as a scenario to understand the qualitative improvement that Roger Bastide's research has provoked in the studies on Afro-Catholic syncretism in Brazil.Keywords: Roger Bastide, Afro-Catholic Syncretism, Religious Syncretism

Rethinking Public Theology in Ethiopia: Politics, Religion, and Ethnicity in a Declining National Harmony

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-171
Author(s):  
Wondimu Legesse Sonessa
Keyword(s):  
Public Theology ◽  
Military Government ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
Traditional Religions ◽  
Ethnic Tensions ◽  
Religion And Ethnicity ◽  
Almost All ◽  
African Traditional Religions

Abstract Ethiopia is a country of multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. Almost all of its citizens claim affiliation with either Christianity, Islam, or African traditional religions. Adherents of these religions have been coexisting in respect and peace. However, there is a growing tension between the citizens since the downfall of the dictatorial military government of Ethiopia, which was displaced by the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991. Politics, religion, and ethnicity are the major causes of the declining national harmony under the current government. My claim is that addressing the declining national harmony caused by the religious, political, and ethnic tensions in Ethiopia requires of the EECMY to rethink its public theology in a way that promotes a national harmony that values peace, equality, justice, democracy, and human flourishing.

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