The first emphasizes African, Africanist, crypto-African, etc. elements in various African-American religions. This could include rites, theologies, histories, etc; I am casting a wide net. The second emphasizes the folkways and styles of life that differentiate various Black churches/sects/denominations: both from each other and from the White churches.
Christianity, African Religion and African Medicine
Early European Christian missionaries tried to destroy African religion. Many African traditional religious rites and rituals were regarded as against the Christian faith and morals. It was also believed that African religion promoted the belief in witchcraft and encouraged people to worship their ancestors instead of worshiping God. Traditional healers were regarded as heathens because of their participation in African Traditional Religion. Thus, Africans who became Christians were discouraged by the church from taking part in African traditional religious rituals and from consulting traditional healers.
It is difficult to separate African medicine from African religion. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the African general theory of illness is very broad; it includes African theology. In other words, the theory not only attempts to explain illness and disease but also the relations between God and the universe. The second reason, related to the previous one, is that many traditional healers are also religious leaders and vice versa. Traditional healers use both scientific and non-scientific or subjective knowledge.
Participation in traditional religions is increasing. The point that was often made by early Christian leaders that many African religious rites and rituals and many of their cultural practices are against Christian faith and morals is, in fact, not correct. In recent years a number of African scholars have shown that many traditional practices that Christian churches eliminated or tried to eliminate were not, in fact, against Christian faith and morals. African religion does not encourage belief in witchcraft; it merely accepts the fact that witches exist in Africa.
Witches are regarded as sinners and it is the duty of religious leaders to talk about witchcraft and to attempt to discourage its practice. African religion does not encourage people to venerate their ancestors instead of worshiping; members of African religion talk to their ancestors but worship God. African religion says, God is for everyone everywhere. God takes very little interest in the day-to-day affairs of individuals. God is not concerned with purely personal affairs but with matters of national and international importance. The ancestral spirits, on the other hand, are concerned with the day-to-day affairs of their descendants. They are the intermediaries between the living and God. People pray to God through their ancestors.
Many Africans who became Christians found it difficult to abandon their religion completely. Christian conversion was, therefore, shallow; it did not always change the African people's understanding of life and their relationship to their ancestral spirits and God.
The way forward for the Christian church is to examine carefully African religion and medicine and other cultural aspects, with a view to identifying clearly those practices that are not against Christian faith and morals and incorporate them into modern medicine and Christian worship; if possible, the should also try to find a way out of what are considered non-Christian rites and other cultural practices. A few Christian churches are already doing this.
CAN CHRISTIANITY DIALOGUE WITH AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION?
INFLUENCE OF SOCIETY
But this is only one side of the coin. On the other side is the fact of our being conditioned by our environment. We are the
children of our surroundings. We speak different languages. We eat different foods. Our ideas are shaped by what we see
around us. Our imagery and metaphors are meaningful only in the context of what we experience constantly. Our concepts
of time, space and religion are all tinted by our ecological glasses. It is hardly possible, for example, for the land-locked
Burkinabé to owe allegiance to a god of the sea.
It is this social conditioning that forms a people's culture. Culture comprises that complex or sum-total of ideas, behavior
patterns linguistic tradition, legacy of institutions and concepts of life, of the human person and of the world around that
have been learned and passed on from generation to generation in a given society. The person is born into an existing
culture. There is nothing he can do about it. The culture is going to make him what he is: a Maori and not a Navaho.
Christian thinking would assert that it is the will of God the Creator that that person be part of that culture.
INCULTURATION
Inculturation simply means making use of this God-given gift to praise and thank God. Culture determines my being. I am
an Asante not a Croatian, not because of my colour or because the Asante and the Croatian are different brands of homo
sapiens, but because of the way I behave, think, speak and generally relate; in other words, because of what my culture
has made me.
In inculturation, I am giving back to God the most important gift he has given me. In any case I can really know and
understand him only through the medium of that gift.
TRADITIONAL RELIGION
African cultures are known for their religious orientation. In fact, African cultures are religious cultures. It is not possible to study African culture in isolation from religion. Religion permeates the ideal African from cradle to grave. African traditional religion, therefore, comes into play in the shaping of the African's future. We have to know the past in order to understand the present and be better equipped to plan the future. We cannot know the past of the African if we neglect his religion. Traditional religion is part of the African's ethos and an understanding of it should go hand in hand with Christian evangelization.
PILLARS OF RELIGION
Without trying to sound too simplistic, it can be argued that all religions are built on three major pillars: faith, morality and worship. Religion deals with belief in some higher power or being who is accepted as having some influence on devotees
This conviction enables or even compels the adherents to comport themselves in their socio-cultural life in a manner they believe will please the object of their worship. Here we have moral or ethical behavior. This, in turn, leads to the
believers meeting from time to time to express in public their faith in, and dependence on, their spiritual overlord. This is worship or liturgy.
These three elements common to all religions, are not in any way linked to a written word. A religion is not a religion or a high religion because its tenets are written down. On the contrary, the tenets ate written down because it is already a religion. To, as it were, insist on the book as the evidence of religion or, worse still, classify religion as great or small on the basis of scripture would appear to be wrong.
Yet we have entered the paper culture. What is written down is glorified. Some take what they read in the newspapers as the Gospel-truth. We need certificates to prove our ability. We require tickets to board a plane. If at the last check-point we do not produce the boarding card, we cannot enter the plane. We insist on receipts.
These pieces of paper are needed for empirical reasons. They may serve as records for the future. They remind us of what has happened. They help to prevent mistakes. But, by and large, they indicate the decadence of the present age. In most cases they are meant to prevent fraud. We are in a world where one could, without any qualms of conscience, pose as a medical doctor when one does not know the first letter of the dictionary of anatomy. Without a ticket or a boarding pass, few would feel obliged to pay for their travels. So in a way, written evidence exhibits the worst in humanity.
Religions with scripture make sure that their teachings are not distorted, and that they are obeyed. This does not make them, therefore, superior to others.
POWER OF THE WORD
In the hey-day of traditional religion in Africa, the word of mouth was considered much more sacred than the written word
is now. Written wills are being constantly contested in Asante as elsewhere with a disgraceful frequency. A hundred years
ago, there was no way in which the verbal last testament of a dying person would be subtracted from, added to or
disputed. Only one person may have heard it, yet it would be honoured. It was certain that that one person would not put
into the mouth of the dying person what he had not said.
The word was powerful. 1 suppose Jesus taught this power of the word clearly. He never wrote down a word of what he
said; but he founded a religion. African traditional religion does not tamper with the spoken word. Ceremonies of vital
importance such as enstoolment of a chief, the marriage rite, the initiation of a priest or a youth into a secret society, the
commissioning of a warrior, are all performed with ritual and words; nothing is written down. To break a verbal oath is
one of the greatest felonies in Asante.
In my own life-time, Asante has seen a time when one could take food items from another person's farm without the
latter's knowledge or consent. It was sufficient for the one who took the plantain or pepper to inform the rightful owner
afterwards that he took it for personal consumption. He was believed, and would not abuse the trust by selling what he
had taken.
That is what religion is about. Religion is about fidelity and conviction, not about interpretation and analysis of ideas.
African traditional religion has a message for us here. Its lack of scripture has not, in any way, meant lack of effectiveness.
Religion is to be practised not just to be talked about. This, of course, does not mean that doctrine and ideology are
useless. But doctrine need not be doctrine because it is written, and doctrine devoid of practice is meaningless.
ANCESTOR WORSHIP
But probably the worst of the epithets used to describe African traditional religion is ancestor-worship. As has been mentioned, ancestors do form part of the religious thought of the African. But the existence and the veneration of saints too form part of the thinking of Christians, of whatever denomination.
No Christian would accept it if Christianity were termed "Saint worship". Christians would rightly protest. The reason would not simply be that there are much more important aspects to Christianity than the Saints. The protestation would be
justified on the grounds that indeed Saints are not worshipped, Saints are not deified, Saints are not the ultimate object of our petition and praise or adoration. We honor Saints as having lived our lives and being worthy of emulation and we
pass our petitions through them to the Almighty God. We impose their names on ourselves to remind us of their lives which we would then be urged to imitate.
This is exactly the same idea in the veneration of ancestors in African traditional religion. Ancestors are not divinized. My father who dies and is regarded as an ancestor remains my father and I refer to him as my father. I honour him and I
respect him for what he has done for me and others. By reason of the radical change of mode of existence, it is believed ancestors have acquired a power that is higher than human. But neither they nor the lesser gods can act independently
from the will of God, the all-powerful, eternal, all-knowing, superlatively great God. African traditional religion is no more ancestor worship than Islam is Muhammad worship or Christianity is Saint-Worship.
POLYTHEISM
What is going to follow about the concept of the Supreme Being should make it clear that the word Polytheism should not
be used to describe African traditional religion.
Polytheism, in the classical sense, connotes a situation where two or more divinities are believed to hold an equal status. In
a polytheistic situation the pantheon of gods comprises deities none of whom is thought to be greater than others, even
though one may be considered as primus inter pares. This is not the case with African traditional religion where the
Supreme Being is the creator of all other divinities and does not form part of the pantheon of divinities but holds a position
unique to himself.
TOTEMISM
Totemism is the belief that there is a relationship between human beings or groups of human beings on the one hand and
creatures of the animal and vegetable kingdoms on the other.
Totemistic ideas are strong in the African traditional religion. But this does not justify our labeling the whole religion
totemistic. Indeed, totemism, in relation to the other concepts, is only an insignificant aspect of African traditional religions.
GOD IS KNOWN
Unfortunately, the foregoing and other misconceptions regarding traditional religion have persisted and caused a lot of
confusion. The religion is seen by the skeptics only in terms of what is visible and observable and of worship.
Consequently, they come to describe it in the most uncomplimentary terms. They observe only the externals, the
slaughtering of sheep and cows, the breaking of eggs, dancing and weird acrobatics, sometimes frightening and " savage
display of sheer physical power. In its Constitution on the Church, even Vatican Council II speaks of " those who in
shadows and images (emphasis mine) seek the unknown God ''. Apparently this is in reference to primal religions ". But
God is known in these religions.
This is where the mistake lies. Religion is essentially something imperceptible, spiritual. It touches the human person
inwardly. It helps to answer fundamental questions in life. This applies to all religions.
IS DIALOGUE POSSIBLE?
Some have questioned the wisdom or even feasibility of the Catholic Church having a dialogue with African traditional
religion Some have even contended that it is impossible for such a dialogue to take place. They argue that there are no
structures, no personalities to deal with. In any case, African traditional religion is a passing phase. Social change will soon
sweep it into total oblivion. The religion is simply disappearing, dying. People must be converted to Christianity and not be
left in delusion. Some who favour dialogue, however nebulously they perceive it, only think in terms of conversion. African
traditional religion must not be pushed aside because it is a friendly religion. Most converts from Africa are from it: for the
rest it has not much to offer. When they talk about philosophical and religious principles, they do not think of African
traditional religion.
The fact is that African traditional religion is not dying. Many of the values it enshrines are lasting values. They are not
ephemeral, to be dismissed lightly. Christianity has been the worse for not taking this into account when it first made its
appearance on the Black African scene in the 15th century.
African traditional religion still influences people's thinking. Many highly educated men and women in all walks of life,
Christians and Muslims, are affected by it, though sometimes unconsciously. It can be said that traditional religion is
present in many places in Africa, if at times it is to be found only in a different, sometimes subtle form. This being the case
the need for the Church to " dialogue with African traditional religion becomes imperative.
DIALOGUE DIFFERS
Dialogue need not be the same for every religion. In one case like, say, Islam or Buddhism, it may take the form of
encountering people, especially religious leaders, organising seminars and conferences, writing letters and books,
exchanging visits. In the case of African traditional religion, the form it can and must take should challenge Christians to live
our Christianity better. Knowledge and the use of African traditional religion, far from distorting the message of Christ,
should enrich it.
If, as holy scripture says, everything was created in, through, and for Christ, then in traditional religion, Christ must be
found in some form, no matter how embryonic or seminal. One is tempted to submit that Christ is found in African culture
and religion in an overt way. It is inconceivable that God would allow millions of Africans of the past and of the present
who did not and do not know the Christian way to perish for such ignorance. There must be a way in which Christ is
present in African traditional religion.
It has been suggested by Dulles, for example, that Christ is there in the symbolic form. This is not the place to go into the
in-depth analysis of the notion of symbolism. But such a proposition is, to say the least, interesting. We shall take up this issue of symbolism later when we consider it in relation to this discussion of dialogue with African traditional religion.
CONCEPTS
An examination of African traditional religion reveals certain concepts of God that stand out clearly as, indeed, Christian. We begin with the very concept of God. In Judaism, we are told that there is no God apart from Yahweh. So unique is Yahweh that no other God is called Yahweh. It is an impossibility to have a lesser Yahweh or a minor Yahweh. Yahweh is Yahweh and that is that.
He is unique, incomparable, superlatively high, almighty, and so on. Deutero-lsaiah would say unhesitatingly that there is no god whatsoever apart from Yahweh. All idols are the work of human beings and those who follow them are foolish. They are as useless as their idols. This is also the thinking of Muslims. In their case, the concept of God is clearly expressed in the first pillar of their religion. " There is no god but God".
In any African language, we find exactly the same situation. God has a name and there is no question of qualifying that name to apply to another being. The writer's own people call God Oyankopon. It is totally inconceivable and ridiculous to have a lesser or minor Oyankopon. The other spirits whom in English we would refer to as lesser gods, have their generic name: obosom (singular), abosom (plural), and specific ones. Mmieh, Kyenekye etc. The Ewe have one name for God, Mawu. They have a totally different name for the so-called lesser deities (Vudu). It will be unthinkable for a Yoruba to
have more than one Olodumare or Olorun or for an Igbo to have a Chineke of any description other than their one and only Chineke.
The Supreme Being in Africa enjoys a status immeasurably higher than any other being's. He is the Creator of all other beings. He is designated by his own name or names. All others have their own names.
ATTRIBUTE
The confusion created by so-called modern languages like English, therefore, is a linguistic problem which is totally not of the African's making.
It is the English language that calls some creatures lesser gods or minor gods or divinities. A thing like that is unheard of in African traditional religion. The idea of the uniqueness of God is so central to Christianity that one would have thought that
the African's linguistic sensitivity to it should have been adopted long ago and made use of to explain the nature and attributes of the Christian God. Apart from the names given to the Supreme Being of the African which he shares with none other, there are certain attributes which all African peoples assign to this Supreme Being as his sole prerogative. I cannot think of any other being in the world being called Toturobonsu (the fullest of completion). Tetekwaframoa
(Eternal), Daaseens (The Gracious One), Birskyirehunuade (Omniscience), and so on, by my people, the Asante. What is more, these names and attributes speak more about what God actually does for us rather than what God is. They bring
God into our life. God is of practical importance to the African.
This is where religion touches the African. God is the "Leaf" that covers the whole world ", God is the " Fountain of water hat never dries up "; God is the " Source of full satisfaction " and so on. This is concrete and a little different from just aying God is good, God is powerful.
ENRICHMENT
Encounter with traditional religion, therefore, means Christianity permeating the culture and allowing itself, thereby, to be enriched in its attempt to evangelize it. This enrichment can take on many forms. African traditional religion challenges
Christianity to re-appraise itself with regard to the many concepts which once were its pillars, but now are disappearing or becoming irrelevant.
WHOLENESS
Wholeness is an idea that is highly theological. Jesus Christ was man and God at the same time. That one person had thenature of God and the nature of man, He was God made visible and he was man, the victim of our sin. Yet he did not
draw a rigid dichotomy between his God-head and his humanity, He was at the same time both. He was whole, not
truncated. This concept of wholeness is found very clearly in African traditional religion. To the African the rigid dichotomy
between the sacred and the profane, the secular and the religious, the material and the immaterial, is artificial. A human
person is a composite of spirit and body and must be treated as such. If he were body alone, he would be a brute animal.
Were he only spirit, he would be an angel. He is a human being precisely because of the inseparable combination of body
and spirit. Hence disease does not affect the body alone, it has to do with the spirit also.
Politics is not divorced from ordinary life. Whatever a person is doing in the ideal traditional set-up, he is involved in
religion. Religion is part of life. It permeates a person's life from cradle to grave. A person is born into a religious
atmosphere and from his conception to his death, there are major religious rituals to mark the major turning points of his
existence.
There is little doubt that many of the problems of the world today stem from the artificial barrier we have placed between
the religious and the profane. We no longer see human beings and phenomena in holistic terms, as undivided unity.
We speak of and deal piecemeal with, economic problems, political problems, moral problems, instead of thinking in
terms of human problems. In the last analysis, every problem is a human issue not easily amenable to dissection. This is a
theme that African traditional religion could enrich universal Christianity with.
SYMBOLISM
Following on the idea of unity in phenomena, is the very important concept of symbolism. Symbols are indispensable inany religion. Jesus Christ himself can be said to be the Sacrament of God. He symbolised the Father's love for humanity
but he also symbolised human being's response to that immense love of the Father.
Some clever scholar has shrewdly described Jesus as the first audiovisual aid! The point is that coming in contact with Deity is not in the normal course of things. Deity has to be reached by means of a kind of bridge between humanity and Deity. The bridge may be words, gesticulations, objects, postures, signs, etc. These are not the reality itself. They are symbols which give us an idea of the reality. The are the connecting links between the seen and the unseen. Every religion has them. Indeed, it would appear that without symbols, religion would be impossible. The sacraments are very concrete examples of symbols and their use. In the sacraments, we use objects and words to stand for a spiritual reality and to cause it. We are proud to use flags, college blazers and crests and insignia of office.
Flags stand for patriotism and in a way cause it: we salute flags, fly them half-mast to show grief and on ships to indicate country of origin. College blazers and crests indicate and sustain loyalty to the alma-rnater. In all African cultures, symbol
play a vital role in the life of the people. Our culture is a symbolic culture. We find symbols in our dances, in our language, in our art and craft, in our institutions such as marriage and chieftaincy - everywhere. There was a time when the Church rightly emphasized the importance of symbols; but the present Western world has inherited a host of symbols that appear to he meaningless to it. Having lost the true meaning of symbols, it is no wonder that the Western world is also gradually losing the sense of religion itself. The Church itself is a sacrament of the risen Lord. The Church symbolizes Christ and his salvific activity among us, and at the same time makes Christ present to us. Here again, traditional religion could be a challenge to orthodox Christianity and could enrich the latter enormously.
SACREDNESS OF LIFE
One other concept vital to African traditional religion is that of respect for sacredness of life. Life is held to be sacred. To give birth to a child is on the part of both the man and the woman, the greatest thing that can happen to a human being. Life must be given, life must be lived, life is to be enjoyed, life is to be whole, life is to be honorable, life is to be long and peaceful. Therefore, in the true setting of the African, willful abortion or even contraception was a rarity, if not an impossibility.
The modern world plays around with life. The modern world, placing the cart before the horse, equates good life with productivity and ingenuity. It has lost the sense of the true humanity of the person. It has allowed itself to be dominated by crude technocracy. We are in the civilization of science and technology. While nobody can deny the importance of these in our lives, it must be obvious that science and technology without humanity are simply tyrannical. Wrongly handled, they are capable of destroying the whole of humanity. But, of course, life without the use of science and technology nowadays would be, in some ways, impotent.
A better knowledge of African traditional religion could bring a corrective to the anti-life mentality which is developing in some parts of the world. It could provide a reminder of God's original intention in creating the human being to his own image and likeness. Contrary to the opinion of many non-Africans, it is a fact that even in the past, the life of human beings was not just got rid of without reason. Among the Asante, a person could be killed only by the highest authority and a person was killed when he had committed a crime that demanded the death penalty.
The second occasion was when a chief or a king died. It was thought proper for the king to be accompanied by subjects since the belief was that he was going to be a ruler in the next world. These two occasions apart, the taking away of human life met with capital punishment. The earth was believed to abhor bloodshed. Even when one killed an enemy in war, one had to undergo ritual ablutions to purify oneself. These practices were religiously-based, and it is, indeed, a sign of present-day loss of a deep sense of religion that human life can be taken with impunity.
IMMORTALITY
Closely following on the concept of the sacredness of life is the concept of the immortality of the soul. These concepts are
all interlinked. The person is a knit unit. He is body and soul at the same time. His dignity and his immortality are
symbolized in the great respect that is held for his life. Death is not considered to be the end of man. It is believed to be a
change of state. Death is a journey into a better world where a person lives for ever. In that world, the person is not just
indifferent to what happens among the living. He is so alive that he is interested, and actually takes part, in the affairs of the
living.
Flowing from this idea of the immortality of the soul is the notion of retribution. A person will be judged after his death in
accordance with his deeds on earth. God, the judge, is just and will not look at persons but will mete out to each and
everyone what he deserves. African traditional religion " told" the African all this long before Christianity reached the
various regions of Africa.
The corollary to the concept of the immortality of the soul and the interest of the dead in the affairs of the living is the belief
in the Communion of Saints. True, African traditional religion does not use the terminology "Communion of Saints".
However, an analysis of the relationship between the living and the dead shows clearly that there is an affinity with
Christian belief in this respect.
The living are stilt struggling. They have to meet the ups and downs of life. They have to overcome temptations and
obstacles in order to be able to enter the world of the dead. The dead, on their part, are doing everything possible to
assist the living to observe faithfully the injunctions that they have left them as a lasting legacy. There is, therefore, constant
interaction between the dead and the living. It is for this reason that one African scholar has called the ancestors " the
living-dead". The ancestors are approached in a human pragmatic way with problems. The African knows the answer can
ultimately only come from the Supreme Being himself. But it is believed that the Supreme Being has left certain things in the
hands of his lieutenants to deal with. It is his right to delegate.
Again, a close and objective analysis of the situation shows that there is a parallel between the Christian concept of the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant on the one hand, and the ancestors and the living on the other. It looks as if God, in his ineffable providence, has provided in the African soil a providential preparation for the seed of Christianity.
COMMUNITY
This brings us to the concept of community in Africa. This was made a special topic of discussion to African Bishops by
Pope Paul VI of blessed memory.
The African lives in community. It has been said that Descartes wrote: Cogito ergo sum (I think; therefore I am). The
African would say: Cognatus sum ergo sum (I am related; therefore I am). The African lives in community. His father is
not just the person biologically responsible for his conception. His mother is not necessarily the woman who physically
gave him birth. He may have as many as fifteen " fathers" and ten "mothers,,. In the ideal situation, each one of these would
treat him as his biological father or mother would. Since he has several " mothers" and " fathers ", obviously he has many
more brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces. In fact, in some African languages, the words " cousin," aunt,'' "uncle," do
not exist. One's father's brother is one's father and one's mother's sister is one's mother. Therefore, the African family is
very much extended. This is what Christianity is supposed to effect - extended families.
Baptism incorporates us into the family of Christ which has no racial or national or even continental boundaries. St. Paul
would say: In Christ there is no slave or free man, no Greek or Roman; we are all members of his Mystical Body.
Moreover, the African family comprises also the dead and the unborn. Therefore, it can never decrease; it can only
increase all the time. Through marriage, other relationships are contracted which widen one's circle of intimate contact.
Besides, the African values friendship greatly. In some cases, friendships are institutionalised to an extent where the bond
between one and one's friend becomes even stronger than the bond between one and one's own blood sister or brother.
In the African social structure, therefore, we have all the ingredients that could go into the preparation of the Christian
family soup. The pity is that this has not been fully recognized or exploited. I submit that the advantages and values of the
nuclear family do not outweigh the benefits to the individual of the extended family - and this is an understatement.
HUMANITY
There is no doubt that African traditional religion promotes humanity. It deals in a pragmatic way with human existence. In that religion, we are each other's keeper. What you do concerns me and what you refuse to do is my affair. I can ask you, as a member of my society, to keep the religious injunctions of that society because I know that your refusal to comply with the religious rules of the society has effects that involve me.
African traditional religion pervades life. It is not a fashion. Neither is it like clothes that you wear today and change or discard tomorrow. Religion is like your skin. You take it wherever you go. Hence religion is not taught or learned as a classroom subject. Religion is picked up imperceptibly through imitation, observation, participation in religious rites and just being an African. African religion promotes human values such as hospitality, kindness, love, unity, gratitude, hard work and, above all, self-help. It promotes fidelity in human relationships. It moulds and shapes the characters of human persons.
African traditional religion insists on faithfulness as a concrete indication of love: faithfulness to one's religious duties, authority, relations, civic obligations, etc. One who fails to be faithful and therefore does not love is described as not being
a human being. He only wears the skin of a human being. A person who constantly and persistently causes havoc in society, thus betraying his people by exposing them to suffering, ridicule and disdain, is simply a beast, Many an African language has such a highly uncomplimentary expression to describe people whose behaviour is tantamount to treachery of the highest ideals of the society.
As these and others are the principles underlying African traditional religion, it is surprising that people should be speaking of the death or irrelevance of African traditional religion.
If this "death" or "irrelevance" were possible, it would be a tragedy to the whole of humanity. It would spell the final doom of the African already precariously hanging onto life under the stranglehold of oppression, domination, material poverty,
hunger and disease.
The interaction or dialogue between Christianity and African traditional religion, therefore, should be centred on the areas where the enrichment of Christianity itself can take place. When this encounter takes place then the African culture itself
will be further elevated to a plane higher than where it has reached. The exercise amounts to helping one's helper. ForAfrican traditional religion cannot attain to certain heights in religion. It was, for example, impossible for African traditional religion to have discovered the Trinity by itself. African traditional religion could not have attained the knowledge of the Incarnation. Suffering, for African traditional religion, is an evil. It is the cause of personal sin or some other people's wickedness. The love of the neighbour is entirely acceptable to African traditional religion. The love of the enemy preached by Christ is an entirely different proposition. These and others are beyond the grasp of African traditional religion, as, I suppose, they are beyond the grasp of many other religions, so-called world or great religions not excepted. The contention, therefore, is that African traditional religion should be allowed to be explored to assist in the process of the propagation of the Message of Christ.
Many of these religions are an integral aspect of their storytelling traditions and also contain descriptions of the basic archetypes, arranged in identifiable structures. This may manifest as a belief in ancestor worship, nature and spirit deities considered responsible for the human condition, some being "life-enhancing" while others are "life-consuming".
Great nature is freely worshipped as the Supreme Being who controls the destiny of human evolution, animals, plants and fluctuations in climate. In some regions the idea of a "Great Spirit" (Creator God) had emerged, who was usually associated with the sun, moon, sky, rainbow, or lightning. For some Africans the power or omnipotence of that God enabled him to create the first man and woman while others consider God to be responsible for all things visible and invisible.
EXAMPLES OF AFRICAN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS:
The religion or worship of Nature Spirits is more highly developed in north-east Africa while fetishism though widely practised gradually changes into idolatry as one travels into the southern regions. Everything in the African World is full of inanimate and animate spirits who are obedient to the will and magic of sorcerers, witches and shamans.
While every clan or family performs regular worship or ritual to its' own ancestors and institutes its' own taboos. The souls of their dead are frequently believed to inhabit the bodies of living animals, plants trees, mountains etc. The Zulus for example refrain from killing certain types of snakes which they consider are the embodiment of their ancestors. They believe also that evil spirits can take possession of the living.
Like many other cultures certain aspects of communal, social and biological existence had a religious context for African people and these were celebrated in numerous rites of passage. Religious invocation, offerings, dances and chants played a part in birth rites, marriages, deaths and the customary life cycles in for example the coming of age and acquisition of status or honor. These range from rites used to denote the transition from puberty to manhood, inductions or initiations into various lodges or secret societies to those rituals intended to avert some evil or curse incurred as a direct result of someone's anti-social behaviour.
African religion is susceptible to external ideas and prone to syncretism. Monotheism for example is not new to the African sub-continent, but the Christian and Islamic influence has helped to dispel earlier pagan beliefs and reinforce
or in some cases reaffirm the ideas of resurrection of the spirit, submission and devotion to God. The Pentecostal Church has exerted a significant influence primarily because of its' leaning towards faith-healing, others have been successful due to their emphasis on liturgical ceremonies and rites. Islamic belief in "jinn" or spirit powers has also made considerable conversions in the population. Political leaders have also taken advantage of the superstitious nature of African religion to influence or coerce the populace or consolidate their power over the regions.
There is as yet no real hard evidence and we must keep an open mind while
awaiting further archaeological confirmation. In various regions of Africa the ancestors of the tribe or clan are worshipped and revered because it is thought that when prayed to or remembered they exert a powerful, almost invisible influence on the lives of the living. At regular periods animal or other sacrifices are made to them entreating them to remain within the vicinity of the household or village thus providing a protective influence. Some African households retain small domestic shrines solely for their ancestors not unlike the Japanese Shinto religion.
SEXUALITY & DEATH
From various accounts it appears that African religion and myth had conceived of a perfect world in prehistory where there was neither death or for that matter sexual contact and that these elements were introduced by their Supreme Gods in order to punish mankind for some sort of original sin or transgression.
Slave Religion
Slave religion is the beliefs, religious faith, and practices of Africans brought to the New World beginning in 1619 and that African Americans kept until they were emancipated. West Africans believe that there is a high god, who created all things and they believe on lesser gods who follow the high god. Having these lesser gods meant that they would pray to different gods when dealing with rain, fertility, and crops. They also believed that a status with the lesser gods was occupied by the spirits of their ancestors. Africans thought that their ancestors were the living dead because they were both close to the living as well as the ultimate beings. The purpose of them living was to honor the ancestors, recognize the lesser gods, and give all power and admiration to the high god.
Christianity became alive as slaves began to combine their African
religious beliefs with Christian beliefs in order to make up what is
called slave religion. At the beginning, between 1619 and the early
1700’s, slave owners were not really trying to convert their slaves
into Christians. Then, slave owners began to have different
thoughts between each other as well. Some believed that slaves
were more than inferior so this meant that they should try to
acquire Christian redemption. Others believed that converting
slaves into Christians would cause many problems because they
could start thinking that they were equal to whites since they were
sharing the same beliefs. To them, a converted slave would
become lazy or even resistant to their white masters.
This society was fairly effective but it was not until the Great
Awakenings (1740 and the early 1800’s) that black slaves began
to turn towards Christianity in large numbers. Preachers that were
related with the Great Awakening emphasized conversion of the
heart, encouraged overjoyed body expressions, and required a
simple confession of Jesus Christ’s lordship. These ideas were
obviously accepted by slaves because they converted throughout
the South, but there were some that still resisted some of the
theology and religious practices of the Great Awakenings. White
preachers taught the slaves that they had to obey their masters as a
sign of being faithful to God. In the other hand, white churches still
thought that slaves were not equal because they held segregated
religious services and controlled the free worship by slaves.
Plantation owners went one step further as they established
segregated seating by placing the slaves in the rear, in the balcony,
or even outside the church windows.
Slaves prayed secretly to God as their only master and asked for
them to be liberated from their owners. They reinterpreted
Christianity by adding some of their African religion. Slaves
identified themselves with the Old Testament Hebrew slaves as
they were liberated by God. If God was able to liberate the
Hebrew slaves that meant that if the slaves would pray enough to
him; the same thing could take place for them. To them, faith was
now a belief in and commitment to a God that helped the poor and
judged the arrogant and the strong, their owners. Now, God
instead of the plantation owner was the actual master of the slaves.
Slaves believed that if God had sided against religious and political
powers in the Bible, then he could also help them become free.
They believed that Jesus was powerful enough to do anything.
Through their arrangement of God and Jesus, slaves were able to
obtain a new meaning in their everyday life. They created things
like "discourse of solidarity" in which one slave would never
give information about another and even went to the extreme of
religious resistance. Rebellion was now taking place. "Invisible
Institution" was now clearly shown as slaves were conducting
secret worship and prayer far away from the eyes of their masters.
They would meet in the woods where they would get ready to
receive a visit from the spirit who made them sing, pray, preach,
shout, and enjoy their own free religious space in such an
enthusiastic manner. In the Invisible Institution slaves learned things
as oratorical skill and started to become leaders. Some received
food and clothing but also counseling in order to keep in the right
stage of mind.
In 1830’s during the religious awakening in the South the slave
owners were now bringing the Gospel to the quarters and this
served as social control and as a way to convert the slaves. By
1860, about 15 percent of the slaves were members of either the
Baptist or Methodist church. There they heard the same sermons,
had the same discipline, and shared the communion table with
whites. In the other hand, slaves still did not only follow these
formal proceedings. Slaves would still listen to their own black
preachers and they would also try to translate the Bible in a way in
which it showed that they were God’s chosen people and that
Judgment Day would castigate their masters. Slaves turned
Christianity into their own terms. If their masters did not follow
common Christian behavior then the slaves felt a great superiority
over their masters.
Now, in the lower Gulf area, around Louisiana, some slaves
followed VOODOO. In other places where slaves were imported
illegally from Africa, they practiced Islam. Others did not have a
religion at all.
Christianity, African Religion and African Medicine
Early European Christian missionaries tried to destroy African religion. Many African traditional religious rites and rituals were regarded as against the Christian faith and morals. It was also believed that African religion promoted the belief in witchcraft and encouraged people to worship their ancestors instead of worshiping God. Traditional healers were regarded as heathens because of their participation in African Traditional Religion. Thus, Africans who became Christians were discouraged by the church from taking part in African traditional religious rituals and from consulting traditional healers.
It is difficult to separate African medicine from African religion. There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, the African general theory of illness is very broad; it includes African theology. In other words, the theory not only attempts to explain illness and disease but also the relations between God and the universe. The second reason, related to the previous one, is that many traditional healers are also religious leaders and vice versa. Traditional healers use both scientific and non-scientific or subjective knowledge.
Participation in traditional religions is increasing. The point that was often made by early Christian leaders that many African religious rites and rituals and many of their cultural practices are against Christian faith and morals is, in fact, not correct. In recent years a number of African scholars have shown that many traditional practices that Christian churches eliminated or tried to eliminate were not, in fact, against Christian faith and morals. African religion does not encourage belief in witchcraft; it merely accepts the fact that witches exist in Africa.
Witches are regarded as sinners and it is the duty of religious leaders to talk about witchcraft and to attempt to discourage its practice. African religion does not encourage people to venerate their ancestors instead of worshiping; members of African religion talk to their ancestors but worship God. African religion says, God is for everyone everywhere. God takes very little interest in the day-to-day affairs of individuals. God is not concerned with purely personal affairs but with matters of national and international importance. The ancestral spirits, on the other hand, are concerned with the day-to-day affairs of their descendants. They are the intermediaries between the living and God. People pray to God through their ancestors.
Many Africans who became Christians found it difficult to abandon their religion completely. Christian conversion was, therefore, shallow; it did not always change the African people's understanding of life and their relationship to their ancestral spirits and God.
The way forward for the Christian church is to examine carefully African religion and medicine and other cultural aspects, with a view to identifying clearly those practices that are not against Christian faith and morals and incorporate them into modern medicine and Christian worship; if possible, the should also try to find a way out of what are considered non-Christian rites and other cultural practices. A few Christian churches are already doing this.
CAN CHRISTIANITY DIALOGUE WITH AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION?
INFLUENCE OF SOCIETY
But this is only one side of the coin. On the other side is the fact of our being conditioned by our environment. We are the
children of our surroundings. We speak different languages. We eat different foods. Our ideas are shaped by what we see
around us. Our imagery and metaphors are meaningful only in the context of what we experience constantly. Our concepts
of time, space and religion are all tinted by our ecological glasses. It is hardly possible, for example, for the land-locked
Burkinabé to owe allegiance to a god of the sea.
It is this social conditioning that forms a people's culture. Culture comprises that complex or sum-total of ideas, behavior
patterns linguistic tradition, legacy of institutions and concepts of life, of the human person and of the world around that
have been learned and passed on from generation to generation in a given society. The person is born into an existing
culture. There is nothing he can do about it. The culture is going to make him what he is: a Maori and not a Navaho.
Christian thinking would assert that it is the will of God the Creator that that person be part of that culture.
INCULTURATION
Inculturation simply means making use of this God-given gift to praise and thank God. Culture determines my being. I am
an Asante not a Croatian, not because of my colour or because the Asante and the Croatian are different brands of homo
sapiens, but because of the way I behave, think, speak and generally relate; in other words, because of what my culture
has made me.
In inculturation, I am giving back to God the most important gift he has given me. In any case I can really know and
understand him only through the medium of that gift.
TRADITIONAL RELIGION
African cultures are known for their religious orientation. In fact, African cultures are religious cultures. It is not possible to study African culture in isolation from religion. Religion permeates the ideal African from cradle to grave. African traditional religion, therefore, comes into play in the shaping of the African's future. We have to know the past in order to understand the present and be better equipped to plan the future. We cannot know the past of the African if we neglect his religion. Traditional religion is part of the African's ethos and an understanding of it should go hand in hand with Christian evangelization.
PILLARS OF RELIGION
Without trying to sound too simplistic, it can be argued that all religions are built on three major pillars: faith, morality and worship. Religion deals with belief in some higher power or being who is accepted as having some influence on devotees
This conviction enables or even compels the adherents to comport themselves in their socio-cultural life in a manner they believe will please the object of their worship. Here we have moral or ethical behavior. This, in turn, leads to the
believers meeting from time to time to express in public their faith in, and dependence on, their spiritual overlord. This is worship or liturgy.
These three elements common to all religions, are not in any way linked to a written word. A religion is not a religion or a high religion because its tenets are written down. On the contrary, the tenets ate written down because it is already a religion. To, as it were, insist on the book as the evidence of religion or, worse still, classify religion as great or small on the basis of scripture would appear to be wrong.
Yet we have entered the paper culture. What is written down is glorified. Some take what they read in the newspapers as the Gospel-truth. We need certificates to prove our ability. We require tickets to board a plane. If at the last check-point we do not produce the boarding card, we cannot enter the plane. We insist on receipts.
These pieces of paper are needed for empirical reasons. They may serve as records for the future. They remind us of what has happened. They help to prevent mistakes. But, by and large, they indicate the decadence of the present age. In most cases they are meant to prevent fraud. We are in a world where one could, without any qualms of conscience, pose as a medical doctor when one does not know the first letter of the dictionary of anatomy. Without a ticket or a boarding pass, few would feel obliged to pay for their travels. So in a way, written evidence exhibits the worst in humanity.
Religions with scripture make sure that their teachings are not distorted, and that they are obeyed. This does not make them, therefore, superior to others.
POWER OF THE WORD
In the hey-day of traditional religion in Africa, the word of mouth was considered much more sacred than the written word
is now. Written wills are being constantly contested in Asante as elsewhere with a disgraceful frequency. A hundred years
ago, there was no way in which the verbal last testament of a dying person would be subtracted from, added to or
disputed. Only one person may have heard it, yet it would be honoured. It was certain that that one person would not put
into the mouth of the dying person what he had not said.
The word was powerful. 1 suppose Jesus taught this power of the word clearly. He never wrote down a word of what he
said; but he founded a religion. African traditional religion does not tamper with the spoken word. Ceremonies of vital
importance such as enstoolment of a chief, the marriage rite, the initiation of a priest or a youth into a secret society, the
commissioning of a warrior, are all performed with ritual and words; nothing is written down. To break a verbal oath is
one of the greatest felonies in Asante.
In my own life-time, Asante has seen a time when one could take food items from another person's farm without the
latter's knowledge or consent. It was sufficient for the one who took the plantain or pepper to inform the rightful owner
afterwards that he took it for personal consumption. He was believed, and would not abuse the trust by selling what he
had taken.
That is what religion is about. Religion is about fidelity and conviction, not about interpretation and analysis of ideas.
African traditional religion has a message for us here. Its lack of scripture has not, in any way, meant lack of effectiveness.
Religion is to be practised not just to be talked about. This, of course, does not mean that doctrine and ideology are
useless. But doctrine need not be doctrine because it is written, and doctrine devoid of practice is meaningless.
ANCESTOR WORSHIP
But probably the worst of the epithets used to describe African traditional religion is ancestor-worship. As has been mentioned, ancestors do form part of the religious thought of the African. But the existence and the veneration of saints too form part of the thinking of Christians, of whatever denomination.
No Christian would accept it if Christianity were termed "Saint worship". Christians would rightly protest. The reason would not simply be that there are much more important aspects to Christianity than the Saints. The protestation would be
justified on the grounds that indeed Saints are not worshipped, Saints are not deified, Saints are not the ultimate object of our petition and praise or adoration. We honor Saints as having lived our lives and being worthy of emulation and we
pass our petitions through them to the Almighty God. We impose their names on ourselves to remind us of their lives which we would then be urged to imitate.
This is exactly the same idea in the veneration of ancestors in African traditional religion. Ancestors are not divinized. My father who dies and is regarded as an ancestor remains my father and I refer to him as my father. I honour him and I
respect him for what he has done for me and others. By reason of the radical change of mode of existence, it is believed ancestors have acquired a power that is higher than human. But neither they nor the lesser gods can act independently
from the will of God, the all-powerful, eternal, all-knowing, superlatively great God. African traditional religion is no more ancestor worship than Islam is Muhammad worship or Christianity is Saint-Worship.
POLYTHEISM
What is going to follow about the concept of the Supreme Being should make it clear that the word Polytheism should not
be used to describe African traditional religion.
Polytheism, in the classical sense, connotes a situation where two or more divinities are believed to hold an equal status. In
a polytheistic situation the pantheon of gods comprises deities none of whom is thought to be greater than others, even
though one may be considered as primus inter pares. This is not the case with African traditional religion where the
Supreme Being is the creator of all other divinities and does not form part of the pantheon of divinities but holds a position
unique to himself.
TOTEMISM
Totemism is the belief that there is a relationship between human beings or groups of human beings on the one hand and
creatures of the animal and vegetable kingdoms on the other.
Totemistic ideas are strong in the African traditional religion. But this does not justify our labeling the whole religion
totemistic. Indeed, totemism, in relation to the other concepts, is only an insignificant aspect of African traditional religions.
GOD IS KNOWN
Unfortunately, the foregoing and other misconceptions regarding traditional religion have persisted and caused a lot of
confusion. The religion is seen by the skeptics only in terms of what is visible and observable and of worship.
Consequently, they come to describe it in the most uncomplimentary terms. They observe only the externals, the
slaughtering of sheep and cows, the breaking of eggs, dancing and weird acrobatics, sometimes frightening and " savage
display of sheer physical power. In its Constitution on the Church, even Vatican Council II speaks of " those who in
shadows and images (emphasis mine) seek the unknown God ''. Apparently this is in reference to primal religions ". But
God is known in these religions.
This is where the mistake lies. Religion is essentially something imperceptible, spiritual. It touches the human person
inwardly. It helps to answer fundamental questions in life. This applies to all religions.
IS DIALOGUE POSSIBLE?
Some have questioned the wisdom or even feasibility of the Catholic Church having a dialogue with African traditional
religion Some have even contended that it is impossible for such a dialogue to take place. They argue that there are no
structures, no personalities to deal with. In any case, African traditional religion is a passing phase. Social change will soon
sweep it into total oblivion. The religion is simply disappearing, dying. People must be converted to Christianity and not be
left in delusion. Some who favour dialogue, however nebulously they perceive it, only think in terms of conversion. African
traditional religion must not be pushed aside because it is a friendly religion. Most converts from Africa are from it: for the
rest it has not much to offer. When they talk about philosophical and religious principles, they do not think of African
traditional religion.
The fact is that African traditional religion is not dying. Many of the values it enshrines are lasting values. They are not
ephemeral, to be dismissed lightly. Christianity has been the worse for not taking this into account when it first made its
appearance on the Black African scene in the 15th century.
African traditional religion still influences people's thinking. Many highly educated men and women in all walks of life,
Christians and Muslims, are affected by it, though sometimes unconsciously. It can be said that traditional religion is
present in many places in Africa, if at times it is to be found only in a different, sometimes subtle form. This being the case
the need for the Church to " dialogue with African traditional religion becomes imperative.
DIALOGUE DIFFERS
Dialogue need not be the same for every religion. In one case like, say, Islam or Buddhism, it may take the form of
encountering people, especially religious leaders, organising seminars and conferences, writing letters and books,
exchanging visits. In the case of African traditional religion, the form it can and must take should challenge Christians to live
our Christianity better. Knowledge and the use of African traditional religion, far from distorting the message of Christ,
should enrich it.
If, as holy scripture says, everything was created in, through, and for Christ, then in traditional religion, Christ must be
found in some form, no matter how embryonic or seminal. One is tempted to submit that Christ is found in African culture
and religion in an overt way. It is inconceivable that God would allow millions of Africans of the past and of the present
who did not and do not know the Christian way to perish for such ignorance. There must be a way in which Christ is
present in African traditional religion.
It has been suggested by Dulles, for example, that Christ is there in the symbolic form. This is not the place to go into the
in-depth analysis of the notion of symbolism. But such a proposition is, to say the least, interesting. We shall take up this issue of symbolism later when we consider it in relation to this discussion of dialogue with African traditional religion.
CONCEPTS
An examination of African traditional religion reveals certain concepts of God that stand out clearly as, indeed, Christian. We begin with the very concept of God. In Judaism, we are told that there is no God apart from Yahweh. So unique is Yahweh that no other God is called Yahweh. It is an impossibility to have a lesser Yahweh or a minor Yahweh. Yahweh is Yahweh and that is that.
He is unique, incomparable, superlatively high, almighty, and so on. Deutero-lsaiah would say unhesitatingly that there is no god whatsoever apart from Yahweh. All idols are the work of human beings and those who follow them are foolish. They are as useless as their idols. This is also the thinking of Muslims. In their case, the concept of God is clearly expressed in the first pillar of their religion. " There is no god but God".
In any African language, we find exactly the same situation. God has a name and there is no question of qualifying that name to apply to another being. The writer's own people call God Oyankopon. It is totally inconceivable and ridiculous to have a lesser or minor Oyankopon. The other spirits whom in English we would refer to as lesser gods, have their generic name: obosom (singular), abosom (plural), and specific ones. Mmieh, Kyenekye etc. The Ewe have one name for God, Mawu. They have a totally different name for the so-called lesser deities (Vudu). It will be unthinkable for a Yoruba to
have more than one Olodumare or Olorun or for an Igbo to have a Chineke of any description other than their one and only Chineke.
The Supreme Being in Africa enjoys a status immeasurably higher than any other being's. He is the Creator of all other beings. He is designated by his own name or names. All others have their own names.
ATTRIBUTE
The confusion created by so-called modern languages like English, therefore, is a linguistic problem which is totally not of the African's making.
It is the English language that calls some creatures lesser gods or minor gods or divinities. A thing like that is unheard of in African traditional religion. The idea of the uniqueness of God is so central to Christianity that one would have thought that
the African's linguistic sensitivity to it should have been adopted long ago and made use of to explain the nature and attributes of the Christian God. Apart from the names given to the Supreme Being of the African which he shares with none other, there are certain attributes which all African peoples assign to this Supreme Being as his sole prerogative. I cannot think of any other being in the world being called Toturobonsu (the fullest of completion). Tetekwaframoa
(Eternal), Daaseens (The Gracious One), Birskyirehunuade (Omniscience), and so on, by my people, the Asante. What is more, these names and attributes speak more about what God actually does for us rather than what God is. They bring
God into our life. God is of practical importance to the African.
This is where religion touches the African. God is the "Leaf" that covers the whole world ", God is the " Fountain of water hat never dries up "; God is the " Source of full satisfaction " and so on. This is concrete and a little different from just aying God is good, God is powerful.
ENRICHMENT
Encounter with traditional religion, therefore, means Christianity permeating the culture and allowing itself, thereby, to be enriched in its attempt to evangelize it. This enrichment can take on many forms. African traditional religion challenges
Christianity to re-appraise itself with regard to the many concepts which once were its pillars, but now are disappearing or becoming irrelevant.
WHOLENESS
Wholeness is an idea that is highly theological. Jesus Christ was man and God at the same time. That one person had thenature of God and the nature of man, He was God made visible and he was man, the victim of our sin. Yet he did not
draw a rigid dichotomy between his God-head and his humanity, He was at the same time both. He was whole, not
truncated. This concept of wholeness is found very clearly in African traditional religion. To the African the rigid dichotomy
between the sacred and the profane, the secular and the religious, the material and the immaterial, is artificial. A human
person is a composite of spirit and body and must be treated as such. If he were body alone, he would be a brute animal.
Were he only spirit, he would be an angel. He is a human being precisely because of the inseparable combination of body
and spirit. Hence disease does not affect the body alone, it has to do with the spirit also.
Politics is not divorced from ordinary life. Whatever a person is doing in the ideal traditional set-up, he is involved in
religion. Religion is part of life. It permeates a person's life from cradle to grave. A person is born into a religious
atmosphere and from his conception to his death, there are major religious rituals to mark the major turning points of his
existence.
There is little doubt that many of the problems of the world today stem from the artificial barrier we have placed between
the religious and the profane. We no longer see human beings and phenomena in holistic terms, as undivided unity.
We speak of and deal piecemeal with, economic problems, political problems, moral problems, instead of thinking in
terms of human problems. In the last analysis, every problem is a human issue not easily amenable to dissection. This is a
theme that African traditional religion could enrich universal Christianity with.
SYMBOLISM
Following on the idea of unity in phenomena, is the very important concept of symbolism. Symbols are indispensable inany religion. Jesus Christ himself can be said to be the Sacrament of God. He symbolised the Father's love for humanity
but he also symbolised human being's response to that immense love of the Father.
Some clever scholar has shrewdly described Jesus as the first audiovisual aid! The point is that coming in contact with Deity is not in the normal course of things. Deity has to be reached by means of a kind of bridge between humanity and Deity. The bridge may be words, gesticulations, objects, postures, signs, etc. These are not the reality itself. They are symbols which give us an idea of the reality. The are the connecting links between the seen and the unseen. Every religion has them. Indeed, it would appear that without symbols, religion would be impossible. The sacraments are very concrete examples of symbols and their use. In the sacraments, we use objects and words to stand for a spiritual reality and to cause it. We are proud to use flags, college blazers and crests and insignia of office.
Flags stand for patriotism and in a way cause it: we salute flags, fly them half-mast to show grief and on ships to indicate country of origin. College blazers and crests indicate and sustain loyalty to the alma-rnater. In all African cultures, symbol
play a vital role in the life of the people. Our culture is a symbolic culture. We find symbols in our dances, in our language, in our art and craft, in our institutions such as marriage and chieftaincy - everywhere. There was a time when the Church rightly emphasized the importance of symbols; but the present Western world has inherited a host of symbols that appear to he meaningless to it. Having lost the true meaning of symbols, it is no wonder that the Western world is also gradually losing the sense of religion itself. The Church itself is a sacrament of the risen Lord. The Church symbolizes Christ and his salvific activity among us, and at the same time makes Christ present to us. Here again, traditional religion could be a challenge to orthodox Christianity and could enrich the latter enormously.
SACREDNESS OF LIFE
One other concept vital to African traditional religion is that of respect for sacredness of life. Life is held to be sacred. To give birth to a child is on the part of both the man and the woman, the greatest thing that can happen to a human being. Life must be given, life must be lived, life is to be enjoyed, life is to be whole, life is to be honorable, life is to be long and peaceful. Therefore, in the true setting of the African, willful abortion or even contraception was a rarity, if not an impossibility.
The modern world plays around with life. The modern world, placing the cart before the horse, equates good life with productivity and ingenuity. It has lost the sense of the true humanity of the person. It has allowed itself to be dominated by crude technocracy. We are in the civilization of science and technology. While nobody can deny the importance of these in our lives, it must be obvious that science and technology without humanity are simply tyrannical. Wrongly handled, they are capable of destroying the whole of humanity. But, of course, life without the use of science and technology nowadays would be, in some ways, impotent.
A better knowledge of African traditional religion could bring a corrective to the anti-life mentality which is developing in some parts of the world. It could provide a reminder of God's original intention in creating the human being to his own image and likeness. Contrary to the opinion of many non-Africans, it is a fact that even in the past, the life of human beings was not just got rid of without reason. Among the Asante, a person could be killed only by the highest authority and a person was killed when he had committed a crime that demanded the death penalty.
The second occasion was when a chief or a king died. It was thought proper for the king to be accompanied by subjects since the belief was that he was going to be a ruler in the next world. These two occasions apart, the taking away of human life met with capital punishment. The earth was believed to abhor bloodshed. Even when one killed an enemy in war, one had to undergo ritual ablutions to purify oneself. These practices were religiously-based, and it is, indeed, a sign of present-day loss of a deep sense of religion that human life can be taken with impunity.
IMMORTALITY
Closely following on the concept of the sacredness of life is the concept of the immortality of the soul. These concepts are
all interlinked. The person is a knit unit. He is body and soul at the same time. His dignity and his immortality are
symbolized in the great respect that is held for his life. Death is not considered to be the end of man. It is believed to be a
change of state. Death is a journey into a better world where a person lives for ever. In that world, the person is not just
indifferent to what happens among the living. He is so alive that he is interested, and actually takes part, in the affairs of the
living.
Flowing from this idea of the immortality of the soul is the notion of retribution. A person will be judged after his death in
accordance with his deeds on earth. God, the judge, is just and will not look at persons but will mete out to each and
everyone what he deserves. African traditional religion " told" the African all this long before Christianity reached the
various regions of Africa.
The corollary to the concept of the immortality of the soul and the interest of the dead in the affairs of the living is the belief
in the Communion of Saints. True, African traditional religion does not use the terminology "Communion of Saints".
However, an analysis of the relationship between the living and the dead shows clearly that there is an affinity with
Christian belief in this respect.
The living are stilt struggling. They have to meet the ups and downs of life. They have to overcome temptations and
obstacles in order to be able to enter the world of the dead. The dead, on their part, are doing everything possible to
assist the living to observe faithfully the injunctions that they have left them as a lasting legacy. There is, therefore, constant
interaction between the dead and the living. It is for this reason that one African scholar has called the ancestors " the
living-dead". The ancestors are approached in a human pragmatic way with problems. The African knows the answer can
ultimately only come from the Supreme Being himself. But it is believed that the Supreme Being has left certain things in the
hands of his lieutenants to deal with. It is his right to delegate.
Again, a close and objective analysis of the situation shows that there is a parallel between the Christian concept of the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant on the one hand, and the ancestors and the living on the other. It looks as if God, in his ineffable providence, has provided in the African soil a providential preparation for the seed of Christianity.
COMMUNITY
This brings us to the concept of community in Africa. This was made a special topic of discussion to African Bishops by
Pope Paul VI of blessed memory.
The African lives in community. It has been said that Descartes wrote: Cogito ergo sum (I think; therefore I am). The
African would say: Cognatus sum ergo sum (I am related; therefore I am). The African lives in community. His father is
not just the person biologically responsible for his conception. His mother is not necessarily the woman who physically
gave him birth. He may have as many as fifteen " fathers" and ten "mothers,,. In the ideal situation, each one of these would
treat him as his biological father or mother would. Since he has several " mothers" and " fathers ", obviously he has many
more brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces. In fact, in some African languages, the words " cousin," aunt,'' "uncle," do
not exist. One's father's brother is one's father and one's mother's sister is one's mother. Therefore, the African family is
very much extended. This is what Christianity is supposed to effect - extended families.
Baptism incorporates us into the family of Christ which has no racial or national or even continental boundaries. St. Paul
would say: In Christ there is no slave or free man, no Greek or Roman; we are all members of his Mystical Body.
Moreover, the African family comprises also the dead and the unborn. Therefore, it can never decrease; it can only
increase all the time. Through marriage, other relationships are contracted which widen one's circle of intimate contact.
Besides, the African values friendship greatly. In some cases, friendships are institutionalised to an extent where the bond
between one and one's friend becomes even stronger than the bond between one and one's own blood sister or brother.
In the African social structure, therefore, we have all the ingredients that could go into the preparation of the Christian
family soup. The pity is that this has not been fully recognized or exploited. I submit that the advantages and values of the
nuclear family do not outweigh the benefits to the individual of the extended family - and this is an understatement.
HUMANITY
There is no doubt that African traditional religion promotes humanity. It deals in a pragmatic way with human existence. In that religion, we are each other's keeper. What you do concerns me and what you refuse to do is my affair. I can ask you, as a member of my society, to keep the religious injunctions of that society because I know that your refusal to comply with the religious rules of the society has effects that involve me.
African traditional religion pervades life. It is not a fashion. Neither is it like clothes that you wear today and change or discard tomorrow. Religion is like your skin. You take it wherever you go. Hence religion is not taught or learned as a classroom subject. Religion is picked up imperceptibly through imitation, observation, participation in religious rites and just being an African. African religion promotes human values such as hospitality, kindness, love, unity, gratitude, hard work and, above all, self-help. It promotes fidelity in human relationships. It moulds and shapes the characters of human persons.
African traditional religion insists on faithfulness as a concrete indication of love: faithfulness to one's religious duties, authority, relations, civic obligations, etc. One who fails to be faithful and therefore does not love is described as not being
a human being. He only wears the skin of a human being. A person who constantly and persistently causes havoc in society, thus betraying his people by exposing them to suffering, ridicule and disdain, is simply a beast, Many an African language has such a highly uncomplimentary expression to describe people whose behaviour is tantamount to treachery of the highest ideals of the society.
As these and others are the principles underlying African traditional religion, it is surprising that people should be speaking of the death or irrelevance of African traditional religion.
If this "death" or "irrelevance" were possible, it would be a tragedy to the whole of humanity. It would spell the final doom of the African already precariously hanging onto life under the stranglehold of oppression, domination, material poverty,
hunger and disease.
The interaction or dialogue between Christianity and African traditional religion, therefore, should be centred on the areas where the enrichment of Christianity itself can take place. When this encounter takes place then the African culture itself
will be further elevated to a plane higher than where it has reached. The exercise amounts to helping one's helper. ForAfrican traditional religion cannot attain to certain heights in religion. It was, for example, impossible for African traditional religion to have discovered the Trinity by itself. African traditional religion could not have attained the knowledge of the Incarnation. Suffering, for African traditional religion, is an evil. It is the cause of personal sin or some other people's wickedness. The love of the neighbour is entirely acceptable to African traditional religion. The love of the enemy preached by Christ is an entirely different proposition. These and others are beyond the grasp of African traditional religion, as, I suppose, they are beyond the grasp of many other religions, so-called world or great religions not excepted. The contention, therefore, is that African traditional religion should be allowed to be explored to assist in the process of the propagation of the Message of Christ.
Many of these religions are an integral aspect of their storytelling traditions and also contain descriptions of the basic archetypes, arranged in identifiable structures. This may manifest as a belief in ancestor worship, nature and spirit deities considered responsible for the human condition, some being "life-enhancing" while others are "life-consuming".
Great nature is freely worshipped as the Supreme Being who controls the destiny of human evolution, animals, plants and fluctuations in climate. In some regions the idea of a "Great Spirit" (Creator God) had emerged, who was usually associated with the sun, moon, sky, rainbow, or lightning. For some Africans the power or omnipotence of that God enabled him to create the first man and woman while others consider God to be responsible for all things visible and invisible.
EXAMPLES OF AFRICAN RELIGIOUS BELIEFS:
The religion or worship of Nature Spirits is more highly developed in north-east Africa while fetishism though widely practised gradually changes into idolatry as one travels into the southern regions. Everything in the African World is full of inanimate and animate spirits who are obedient to the will and magic of sorcerers, witches and shamans.
While every clan or family performs regular worship or ritual to its' own ancestors and institutes its' own taboos. The souls of their dead are frequently believed to inhabit the bodies of living animals, plants trees, mountains etc. The Zulus for example refrain from killing certain types of snakes which they consider are the embodiment of their ancestors. They believe also that evil spirits can take possession of the living.
Like many other cultures certain aspects of communal, social and biological existence had a religious context for African people and these were celebrated in numerous rites of passage. Religious invocation, offerings, dances and chants played a part in birth rites, marriages, deaths and the customary life cycles in for example the coming of age and acquisition of status or honor. These range from rites used to denote the transition from puberty to manhood, inductions or initiations into various lodges or secret societies to those rituals intended to avert some evil or curse incurred as a direct result of someone's anti-social behaviour.
African religion is susceptible to external ideas and prone to syncretism. Monotheism for example is not new to the African sub-continent, but the Christian and Islamic influence has helped to dispel earlier pagan beliefs and reinforce
or in some cases reaffirm the ideas of resurrection of the spirit, submission and devotion to God. The Pentecostal Church has exerted a significant influence primarily because of its' leaning towards faith-healing, others have been successful due to their emphasis on liturgical ceremonies and rites. Islamic belief in "jinn" or spirit powers has also made considerable conversions in the population. Political leaders have also taken advantage of the superstitious nature of African religion to influence or coerce the populace or consolidate their power over the regions.
There is as yet no real hard evidence and we must keep an open mind while
awaiting further archaeological confirmation. In various regions of Africa the ancestors of the tribe or clan are worshipped and revered because it is thought that when prayed to or remembered they exert a powerful, almost invisible influence on the lives of the living. At regular periods animal or other sacrifices are made to them entreating them to remain within the vicinity of the household or village thus providing a protective influence. Some African households retain small domestic shrines solely for their ancestors not unlike the Japanese Shinto religion.
SEXUALITY & DEATH
From various accounts it appears that African religion and myth had conceived of a perfect world in prehistory where there was neither death or for that matter sexual contact and that these elements were introduced by their Supreme Gods in order to punish mankind for some sort of original sin or transgression.
Slave Religion
Slave religion is the beliefs, religious faith, and practices of Africans brought to the New World beginning in 1619 and that African Americans kept until they were emancipated. West Africans believe that there is a high god, who created all things and they believe on lesser gods who follow the high god. Having these lesser gods meant that they would pray to different gods when dealing with rain, fertility, and crops. They also believed that a status with the lesser gods was occupied by the spirits of their ancestors. Africans thought that their ancestors were the living dead because they were both close to the living as well as the ultimate beings. The purpose of them living was to honor the ancestors, recognize the lesser gods, and give all power and admiration to the high god.
Christianity became alive as slaves began to combine their African
religious beliefs with Christian beliefs in order to make up what is
called slave religion. At the beginning, between 1619 and the early
1700’s, slave owners were not really trying to convert their slaves
into Christians. Then, slave owners began to have different
thoughts between each other as well. Some believed that slaves
were more than inferior so this meant that they should try to
acquire Christian redemption. Others believed that converting
slaves into Christians would cause many problems because they
could start thinking that they were equal to whites since they were
sharing the same beliefs. To them, a converted slave would
become lazy or even resistant to their white masters.
This society was fairly effective but it was not until the Great
Awakenings (1740 and the early 1800’s) that black slaves began
to turn towards Christianity in large numbers. Preachers that were
related with the Great Awakening emphasized conversion of the
heart, encouraged overjoyed body expressions, and required a
simple confession of Jesus Christ’s lordship. These ideas were
obviously accepted by slaves because they converted throughout
the South, but there were some that still resisted some of the
theology and religious practices of the Great Awakenings. White
preachers taught the slaves that they had to obey their masters as a
sign of being faithful to God. In the other hand, white churches still
thought that slaves were not equal because they held segregated
religious services and controlled the free worship by slaves.
Plantation owners went one step further as they established
segregated seating by placing the slaves in the rear, in the balcony,
or even outside the church windows.
Slaves prayed secretly to God as their only master and asked for
them to be liberated from their owners. They reinterpreted
Christianity by adding some of their African religion. Slaves
identified themselves with the Old Testament Hebrew slaves as
they were liberated by God. If God was able to liberate the
Hebrew slaves that meant that if the slaves would pray enough to
him; the same thing could take place for them. To them, faith was
now a belief in and commitment to a God that helped the poor and
judged the arrogant and the strong, their owners. Now, God
instead of the plantation owner was the actual master of the slaves.
Slaves believed that if God had sided against religious and political
powers in the Bible, then he could also help them become free.
They believed that Jesus was powerful enough to do anything.
Through their arrangement of God and Jesus, slaves were able to
obtain a new meaning in their everyday life. They created things
like "discourse of solidarity" in which one slave would never
give information about another and even went to the extreme of
religious resistance. Rebellion was now taking place. "Invisible
Institution" was now clearly shown as slaves were conducting
secret worship and prayer far away from the eyes of their masters.
They would meet in the woods where they would get ready to
receive a visit from the spirit who made them sing, pray, preach,
shout, and enjoy their own free religious space in such an
enthusiastic manner. In the Invisible Institution slaves learned things
as oratorical skill and started to become leaders. Some received
food and clothing but also counseling in order to keep in the right
stage of mind.
In 1830’s during the religious awakening in the South the slave
owners were now bringing the Gospel to the quarters and this
served as social control and as a way to convert the slaves. By
1860, about 15 percent of the slaves were members of either the
Baptist or Methodist church. There they heard the same sermons,
had the same discipline, and shared the communion table with
whites. In the other hand, slaves still did not only follow these
formal proceedings. Slaves would still listen to their own black
preachers and they would also try to translate the Bible in a way in
which it showed that they were God’s chosen people and that
Judgment Day would castigate their masters. Slaves turned
Christianity into their own terms. If their masters did not follow
common Christian behavior then the slaves felt a great superiority
over their masters.
Now, in the lower Gulf area, around Louisiana, some slaves
followed VOODOO. In other places where slaves were imported
illegally from Africa, they practiced Islam. Others did not have a
religion at all.
