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Journal articles on the topic 'African traditional religion'

Author: Grafiati

Published: 4 June 2021

Last updated: 3 February 2022

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1

Oyekan, Adeolu Oluwaseyi. "John Mbiti on the Monotheistic Attribution of African Traditional Religions: A Refutation." Filosofia Theoretica: Journal of African Philosophy, Culture and Religions 10, no. 1 (June 3, 2021): 19–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ft.v10i1.2.

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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.

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2

Domingos, Luís Tomás. "RELIGIÃO TRADICIONAL AFRICANA/TRADITIONAL AFRICAN RELIGION." Brazilian Journal of Development 7, no. 1 (2021): 10690–98. http://dx.doi.org/10.34117/bjdv7n1-730.

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3

Boakye, Ebenezer. "Decoupling African Traditional Religion and Culture from the Family Life of Africans: Calculated Steps in Disguise." International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research 2, no. 3 (March 15, 2021): 202–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.11594/ijmaber.02.03.04.

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Even though African Traditional Religion and Cultural family life seem to have been detached from the indigenous Africans, with many reasons accounting for such a detach, the attempts made by the new wave of Christianity is paramount, under the cloak of salvation and better life. The paper focuses on the steps taken by Pentecostal-Charismatics in Africa to decouple African Traditional Religion and Culture from the family life of Africans in a disguised manner. The paper begins with the retrospection of African Traditional Religion as the religion with belief of the forefathers concerning the existence of the Supreme Being, divinities, Spirit beings, Ancestors, and mysterious powers, good and evil and the afterlife. It then walks readers through the encounter between Christianity and ATR and come out that Christianity from its earliest history has maintained a negative attitude toward ATR. The paper again explores that the traditional understanding of the African family system is portrayed in the common believe system and the functions of the family com-ponents. Again, the paper further unravels decoupling measures such as reaching the masses for audience, demonization of African the world of the spirit, demonization of African elders, pastors as-suming the traditional position of elders of African families are the factors that are being taken to ensure the taking away of African traditional religious and family life from Africans. The paper again discusses the adverse effects of these decoupling factors on Africans. The paper concludes that Traditional African family patterns are slowly but progressively being altered as a result of the process of the decoupling strategies.

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Gobo, Prisca A. "Rethinking Religion and Sustainable Development in Africa." East African Journal of Traditions, Culture and Religion 2, no. 1 (October 1, 2020): 60–71. http://dx.doi.org/10.37284/eajtcr.2.1.219.

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This article suggests religion as a viable option for sustainable development in Africa. The focus will be on the three major religions in Africa, namely, African Traditional Religion (ATR), Islam and Christianity. The crux of this paper is on the areas of strength and similarities in the three religions which could foster development. Approaching this topic from within the African and African diasporic context, the nexus between the religions will be established. We will be historical in our interrogation of facts. By analysing the different historical sources and adherents of these religions, proper interpretation would be given to this topic using the interdisciplinary approach to historical writing. Conclusions would be drawn after careful examination of the facts which would clearly indicate that religion could aid sustainable development in more ways than one.

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ANAKWE OBORJI, Francis. "Revelation in African Traditional Religion." Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 12, no. 1 (January 1, 2002): 5–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.2143/sid.12.1.519012.

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6

Nweke, Innocent Ogbonna. "African Traditional Religion vis-à-vis the Tackle It Suffers." Journal of Religion and Human Relations 13, no. 1 (July 22, 2021): 92–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jrhr.v13i1.5.

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African Traditional Religion is the indigenous religion of the Africans. The religion that has existed before the advent of western civilization which came with secularism as an umbrella that shades Christianity, education, urbanization, colonization and so on. These features of western civilization were impressed upon African Traditional Religion. Hence, the presence of alien cultures and practices in contemporary African traditional practice, as well as the presence of elements of traditionalism in contemporary African Christian practices. This somewhat symbiosis was discussed in this paper and it was discovered that African Traditional Religion was able to jump all the hurdles of secularism, Christianity, urbanization etc and came out successfully though with bruises. The paper used socio-cultural approach in its analysis.

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7

SZYMCZYCHA, KAZIMIERZ. "Dialog z tradycyjnymi religiami Afryki w nauczaniu papieża Pawła VI, Jana Pawła II oraz w liście kardynała Francisa Arinze." Annales Missiologici Posnanienses, no. 17 (December 15, 2010): 71–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.14746/amp.2010.17.05.

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The letter of pope Paul VI Africae terrarum is the first official Church document consecrated to Africa. It was issued on 29th of October 1967. It shows a positive perspective on African Traditional Religion. The second important group of texts regarding the attitude towards ATR are different texts said by John Paul II during his travels to Africa. Special attention should be paid also to the letter of card. F. Arinze consecrated to the pastoral care of the followers of African Traditional Religion.

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8

Almeida, Nadi Maria de. "TOWARDS A CHRISTIAN APPROACH TO AFRICA TRADITIONAL RELIGION." INTERAÇÕES 16, no. 1 (March 28, 2021): 118–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.5752/p.1983-2478.2021v16n1p118-131.

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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.

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9

Amoah, Jewel, and Tom Bennett. "The Freedoms of Religion and Culture under the South African Constitution: Do Traditional African Religions Enjoy Equal Treatment?" Journal of Law and Religion 24, no. 1 (2008): 1–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0748081400001910.

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On Sunday, January 20, 2007, Tony Yengeni, former Chief Whip of South Africa's governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), celebrated his early release from a four-year prison sentence by slaughtering a bull at his father's house in the Cape Town township of Gugulethu. This time-honored African ritual was performed in order to appease the Yengeni family ancestors. Animal rights activists, however, decried the sacrifice as an act of unnecessary cruelty to the bull, and a public outcry ensued. Leading figures in government circles, including the Minister of Arts and Culture, Pallo Jordan, entered the fray, calling for a proper understanding of African cultural practices. Jody Kollapen, the Chair of the Human Rights Commission, said: “the slaughter of animals by cultures in South Africa was an issue that needed to be dealt with in context. Cultural liberty is an important right. …”That the sacrifice was defended on the ground of African culture was to be expected. More surprising was the way in which everyone involved in the affair ignored what could have been regarded as an event of religious significance. Admittedly, it is far from easy to separate the concepts of religion and culture, and, in certain societies, notably those of pre-colonial Africa, this distinction was unknown. Today in South Africa, however, it is clearly necessary to make such a distinction for human rights litigation, partly because the Constitution specifies religion and culture as two separate rights and partly because it seems that those working under the influence of modern human rights seem to take religion more seriously than culture.

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10

Akitoye, Hakeem A. "Islam and Traditional Titles in Contemporary Lagos Society: A Historical Analysis." International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences 25 (March 2014): 42–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ilshs.25.42.

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Lagos, an area basically inhabited by the Yoruba speaking people of South Western Nigeria and by extension some other parts of West Africa where Islam, Christianity and the African Traditional Religion are still being practised side by side till date with the Africans still being converted to the new faiths without dropping their traditional religion or cultural affiliations. This ideology is very common to the average African who still believes in his culture which has always tainted his way of life or as far as his religion is concerned should not interfere with his culture as the religion as not tacitly condemned some of these practices. This paper intends to examine the extent to which the Yoruba Muslims have been involved in syncretism especially as regards the introduction of the conferment of titles into the Muslim community.

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11

Pinn, Anthony B. "Introduction: African American Religion Symposium." Nova Religio 7, no. 1 (July 1, 2003): 7–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/nr.2003.7.1.7.

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This essay introduces five articles in a Nova Religio symposium focusing on African American Religion. The essays provide some means for re-imagining the study of African American religion in ways that allow for a much better understanding of African American participation in traditional and new religious movements.

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12

Taringa, Nisbert. "How Environmental is African Traditional Religion?" Exchange 35, no. 2 (2006): 191–214. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157254306776525672.

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AbstractThis article examines some of the beliefs and practices underlying traditional African religion's attitudes to nature with reference to Shona religion of Zimbabwe. At the theoretical level, assuming a romantic view of Shona attitudes to nature, it is possible to conclude that Shona traditional religion is necessarily environmentally friendly. The strong beliefs in ancestral spirits (midzimu), pan-vitalism, kinship, taboo and totems have the potential to bear testimony to this. The aim of this article is to critically examine the extent of the claims that Shona traditional religion is environmentally friendly. It shows that Shona attitudes to nature are in fact discriminative and ambivalent. I argue that the ecological attitude of traditional African religion is more based on fear or respect of ancestral spirits than on respect for nature itself. As a result we need to re-examine Shona attitudes to nature if Shona traditional religion is to re-emerge as a stronger environmental force in the global village. After introductory remarks the article gives an overview background about the Shona focusing on their socio-political organization, world-view and religion. An examination of Shona attitudes to nature focusing on the land, animals, and plant life and water bodies follows. After this there is a reflection on the ethical consequences of Shona attitudes to nature. The last part considers the limits of the romantic view of Shona attitudes to nature.

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13

Brivio, Alessandra. "Notes sur le Culte des Orisa et Vodun: Pierre Fatumbi Verger and the Study of “African Traditional Religion”." History in Africa 40, no. 1 (August 6, 2013): 275–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/hia.2013.13.

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AbstractThis article examines Pierre Verger’s Notes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun à Bahia, la Baie de tous les Saints, au Brésil et à l’ancienne côte des esclaves en Afrique and aims to investigate his position in relation to the study of religion, Vodun in particular, in the African context, and his contribution to the construction of an “African traditional religion” paradigm. In Notes sur le culte des Orisa et Vodun, Verger intended to make a comparative analysis of “African sources” and “Brazilian remnants” in order to ascertain what had survived the middle passage. This article seeks to highlight the innovative perspectives Verger introduced to the study of religions in Africa, perspectives that included a wide use of historical sources and a deep involvement in field research, and to point up his different methodological position on the two sides of the Atlantic. In Africa he sought pure tradition, while in Brazil he emphasized the modernity of the African religions that proved able to survive the Atlantic passage and resist the hegemonic powers of the New World.

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14

ANEKWE OBORJI, Francis. "In Dialogue with African Traditional Religion." Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 10, no. 1 (January 1, 2000): 57–76. http://dx.doi.org/10.2143/sid.10.1.519058.

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15

Shaw, Rosalind. "The invention of ‘African Traditional Religion’." Religion 20, no. 4 (October 1990): 339–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0048-721x(90)90116-n.

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16

Anekwe Oborji, Francis. "In Dialogue With African Traditional Religion." Mission Studies 19, no. 1 (2002): 13–34. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157338302x00035.

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AbstractAlthough there is some debate, Francis Oborji in this article argues that one should speak of African Traditional Religion (ATR) in the singular. He then reflects on five "essential aspects" of ATR--God and the human being, good and evil, sacrifice, ancestorship, and the afterlife and final end of human beings. After discussing several problems connected with a Christian approach to ATR, the author makes a positive evaluation of the practice of traditional religion as a supernatural reality that is a true preparation for a full understanding of God's grace in Jesus Christ.

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17

Richard, Ogunleye Adetunbi. "African Traditional Religion - By O. Imasogie." Reviews in Religion & Theology 17, no. 2 (March 2010): 233–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9418.2009.00536.x.

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18

Elbourne, Elizabeth, David Chidester, Chirevo Kwenda, Robert Petty, Judy Tobler, and Darrel Wratten. "African Traditional Religion in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography." Journal of Religion in Africa 30, no. 2 (May 2000): 256. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1581804.

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19

Nweke, Kizito Chinedu. "The Renaissance of African Spiritualities vis-à-vis Christianity: Adopting the Model of Mutual Enrichment." Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 48, no. 2 (June 2019): 237–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0008429819830360.

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Christianity has been dominant in many parts of Africa especially since its colonial contact. Recently, however, there is a surge of interest in reviving indigenous spiritualities among Africans, both in Africa and in the diaspora. In Lagos, Nigeria, for example, shrines compete with churches and mosques for adherents and positions. Among the Igbos, a form of convenient interreligiousness has been developed in the society. When issues of practical expediency arise, the Christian would have the option of referring back to his/her traditional religion. Beyond Africa, the rise of African spiritualities has become conspicuous. For various reasons, ranging from Afrocentrism to anti-religious tendencies to the popular religions, from racial animosity to politico-economic ideologies, a lot of people, Africans and non-Africans, are embracing the neo-African spiritualities. This article is a study addressing this revival, by critically analyzing the reasons for its re-emergence, the challenges that have accompanied the revival and the implications of it in the Christian–African spirituality relationship. Can this renaissance in African spirituality bring forth or support a renaissance in Africa? Africa has about 450 million Christians, about 40% of the continent’s population. People of African origin equally make up a good number of Christians outside Africa. In other words, Christianity is decisive, ideologically and structurally, not just as a religion but also in the socio-political life of Africans. Finding a way to harmonize Christianity and African spiritualities, especially in the face of this renaissance, for the growth of Africa, is the aim of this article. Hence, it suggests the model of “Mutual Enrichment.”

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20

Onuzulike, Uchenna. "“African Crossroads: Conflicts between African Traditional Religion and Christianity”." International Journal of the Humanities: Annual Review 6, no. 2 (2008): 163–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.18848/1447-9508/cgp/v06i02/42362.

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21

Climenhaga, Alison Fitchett. "Heathenism, Delusion, and Ignorance: Samuel Crowther's Approach to Islam and Traditional Religion." Anglican Theological Review 96, no. 4 (September 2014): 661–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000332861409600403.

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In 1843, Samuel Ajayi Crowther became the first African ordained for ministry in the Anglican Church, and he dedicated most of his life to bringing the gospel to his fellow West Africans. During the course of his evangelizing activity, Crowther engaged frequently with both Islam and African traditional religion. After a brief survey of Crowther's life, I compare the vocabulary with which he describes Islam and traditional religion, the analytic categories he applies to them, and the quality of his engagement with each. I argue that the differences between Crowther's engagement with traditional religion and Islam stem from his perception of the latter as a competing missionary religion and the former as being connected in important ways with the African cultural traditions he hoped to preserve and perfect.

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22

Salau, Mohammed Bashir. "RELIGION AND POLITICS IN AFRICA: THREE STUDIES ON NIGERIA." Journal of Law and Religion 35, no. 1 (April 2020): 165–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jlr.2020.15.

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Until the second half of the twentieth century, the role of religion in Africa was profoundly neglected. There were no university centers devoted to the study of religion in Africa; there was only a handful of scholars who focused primarily on religious studies and most of them were not historians; and there were relatively few serious empirical studies on Christianity, Islam, and African traditional religions. This paucity of rigorous research began to be remedied in the 1960s and by the last decade of the twentieth century, the body of literature on religion in Africa had expanded significantly. The burgeoning research and serious coverage of the role of religion in African societies has initially drawn great impetus from university centers located in the West and in various parts of Africa that were committed to demonstrating that Africa has a rich history even before European contact. Accordingly scholars associated with such university centers have since the 1960s acquired and systematically catalogued private religious manuscripts and written numerous pan-African, regional, national, and local studies on diverse topics including spirit mediumship, witchcraft, African systems of thought, African evangelists and catechists, Mahdism, Pentecostalism, slavery, conversion, African religious diasporas and their impact on host societies, and religion and politics. Although the three works under review here deal with the role of religion in an African context, they mainly contribute to addressing three major questions in the study of religion and politics: How do Islam and other religious orientations shape public support for democracy? What is the primary cause of conflict or religious violence? What strategies should be employed to resolve such conflicts and violence?

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23

Mndende, Nokuzola. "Law and religion in South Africa: An African traditional perspective." Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif 54 (July 20, 2013): 74. http://dx.doi.org/10.5952/54-0-292.

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24

ANEKWE OBORJI, F. "African Traditional Religion Between Pluralism And Ultimate Reality." Studies in Interreligious Dialogue 14, no. 2 (July 1, 2004): 129–59. http://dx.doi.org/10.2143/sid.14.2.505176.

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25

Manieson, Akua Agyeiwaa. "African Traditional Religion and the African Cinema: The Case of Nollywood." Current Research Journal of Social Sciences 6, no. 1 (January 25, 2014): 1–5. http://dx.doi.org/10.19026/crjss.6.5559.

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26

Kamara, Gibreel M. "Regaining Our African Aesthetics and Essence through Our African Traditional Religion." Journal of Black Studies 30, no. 4 (March 2000): 502–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/002193470003000402.

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27

Michello, Janet. "The Black Madonna: A Theoretical Framework for the African Origins of Other World Religious Beliefs." Religions 11, no. 10 (October 10, 2020): 511. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rel11100511.

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This review summarizes existing scholarship in order to theorize how Abrahamic religions and Hinduism were influenced by African beliefs, in order to illuminate the contributions that African beliefs have had on other world religions. The review begins with a brief historical overview of the origins of indigenous ideologies, followed by a review of classical theories of religion and a summary of contemporary religious trends, with particular attention on African beliefs. The Black Madonna, with origins in Africa, is a prominent example of how African beliefs have been integrated into other faiths in ways that are often obscured from view. The Black Madonna is compared with the characteristics and symbolism of the traditional fair-skinned Virgin Mary. It is estimated that there are hundreds of depictions of the Black Madonna, yet her identity as truly black is generally minimized. This review contributes a theoretical rationale for the lack of recognition and acceptance of the Madonna as black, contextualizing this within a feminist theoretical viewpoint and analyzing the connection to African folklore and traditional religious beliefs. The theoretical framework articulated in this paper contributes an elucidation of the ways that indigenous African religions have affected other world religions. Acknowledging this influence challenges the simplistic notion of reified distinctions between Western and non-Western religions.

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van der Walt, Bennie J. "CULTURE, WORLDVIEW AND RELIGION." Philosophia Reformata 66, no. 1 (December 2, 2001): 23–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/22116117-90000210.

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Why is a Reformational philosophy needed in Africa? It is necessary, because something is missing in African Christianity. Most Western missionaries taught Africans a “broken” or dualistic worldview. This caused a divorce between traditional culture and their new Christian religion. The Christian faith was perceived as something remote, only concerned with a distant past (the Bible) and a far-away future (heaven). It could not become a reality in their everyday lives. It could not develop into an all-encompassing worldview and lifestyle. Because Reformational philosophy advocates the Biblical, holistic approach of a comprehensive worldview, it is welcomed on our continent. It contains a healing and liberating message to our bleeding and lost continent. What Africans, however, neither want nor can afford, is an ivory tower philosophy, playing intellectual games; a philosophy which does not do or change anything. They want a philosophy which is a “marriage” between abstract ideas and the facts on the ground. They need a Christian philosophy with compassion that may even contribute to the alleviation of their poverty!

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29

Salem, Ahmed Ali. "The Crown and the Turban." American Journal of Islam and Society 15, no. 2 (July 1, 1998): 141–46. http://dx.doi.org/10.35632/ajis.v15i2.2188.

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The Crown and the Turban is a new, valuable, and controversial contributionto two debates. First, it is a part of the debate on Africa's triple heritage: Africantradition, Islam, and Christianity. Second, it contributes to the debate on "secular"versus "religious" governance.For the first debate, the author argues that Muslims in West Africa are part oftwo encounters. First, they encounter the indigenous people and societies andparticularly their traditional religions and political institutions. Second, theyencounter Europeans who colonized and still indirectJy dominate West Africa.The reason for tension, the author claims, is what he calls "Islamic politicalism"and Muslim militancy on one hand and African tolerance and European secularismon the other.However, African Muslims are in an advantaged position compared toAfrican Christians. African Muslims are indigenous and Islam is considered anAfrican religion. Moreover, African Muslims demonstrate a political confidence based on an authentic tradition and long experience of Muslim rule in precolonialWest Africa (p. 1).Nevertheless, the author argues that Africa offers a fresh opportunity to theadherents of the two missionary faiths, i.e., Islam and Christianity, vis-his thepluralist challenge of indigenous societies. Muslim and Christian Africans arealready favored relatives in the African household but without the prodigal rightor presumption to dispossess it or each other (p. 181).For the second debate, the author argues that Africa offers the promise, andthe attendant hazards, of formulating and resolving the most crucial of debatesfor religious modernization: the debate on secular versus religious governance(p. 182). In the fmal analysis, the author approves and defends the secular governanceas opposed to the religious one ...

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Metz, Thaddeus, and Motsamai Molefe. "Traditional African Religion as a Neglected Form of Monotheism." Monist 104, no. 3 (June 18, 2021): 393–409. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/monist/onab007.

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Abstract Our aims are to articulate some core philosophical positions characteristic of Traditional African Religion and to argue that they merit consideration as monotheist rivals to standard interpretations of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition. In particular, we address the topics of how God’s nature is conceived, how God’s will is meant to bear on human decision making, where one continues to exist upon the death of one’s body, and how long one is able to exist without a body. For each of these topics, we note how Traditional African Religion posits claims that clash with mainstream Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and that, being prima facie plausible, indicate the need for systematic cross-cultural philosophical debate.

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Ebere, Charles. "Beating the Masculinity Game: Evidence from African Traditional Religion." CrossCurrents 61, no. 4 (December 2011): 480–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-3881.2011.00197.x.

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32

Crafford, D. "The church in Africa and the struggle for an African identity." Verbum et Ecclesia 14, no. 2 (July 19, 1993): 163–75. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v14i2.1064.

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The church in Africa experienced a tremendous growth during the twentieth century but is still in search of a true African identity. How can the church, in a process of enculteration, remain genuinely African and genuinely biblical? The role of African Traditional Religion, African Theology and the African Independent Church in the search for identity is described. In the end an effort is made to answer the question how the identity crisis in Africa can be solved.

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Nwauche, Enyinna S. "THE RIGHT TO RITUAL SLAUGHTER IN AFRICA: A COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS." Journal of Law and Religion 32, no. 3 (November 2017): 470–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/jlr.2017.43.

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AbstractUsing examples of ritual slaughter recognized by different religions in Africa, this paper examines the regulated and unregulated exercise of the right to ritual slaughter as a manifestation of the right to freedom of religion in three constitutional traditions in Africa.This article commences with an evaluation of the existence of the right to ritual slaughter either as a freestanding right or a derivative right from the right to freedom of religion in the bills of rights of African constitutions. The article argues that the ritual slaughter at this stage of constitutional development in Africa is at best a derivative right partly anchored on the communal dimensions of the right to freedom of religion. The article closely examines the bearers and content of the right to ritual slaughter through a brief overview of the practices of ritual slaughter recognized by African traditional religion and Islam. In addition, the syncretic nature of religious practice in Africa identified as the multiple or concurrent witness to different faiths is also considered to provide a realistic account of ritual slaughter in Africa.Since the right to ritual slaughter is identified as a derivative right from the right to freedom of religion, the article examines different constitutional traditions in Africa to determine how religion is conceived in constitutional governance that in turn affects the feasibility of the right to ritual slaughter within constitutional designs and capacity of other public interests such as animal welfare to limit the exercise of the right to ritual slaughter.Three constitutional designs of the role of religion in constitutional governance are identified in this regard. The article concludes on a number of points, including the recognition of the importance of the articulation of the human rights that underpin animal welfare concerns and the fact that a regulated right to ritual slaughter appears feasible in a number of African countries.

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Crafford, D. "Godsdienstige perspektiewe in die heropbou van die gemeenskap." Verbum et Ecclesia 16, no. 2 (September 21, 1995): 277–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v16i2.453.

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Religious perspectives in the reconstruction of the society The multi-religious context in South Africa is a fact and must be taken into account in any effort towards reconstruction and development of the society. The different religiOns are challenged to participate in the process of reconstruction. In many ways they can contribute positively towards the process. There are however also elements in religions which can hinder and obstruct the process. 17lis article considers a number of perspectives in Islam, Hinduism, African Traditional Religion and Christianity which can have a positive or negative influence on the Reconstruction and Development Program in South Africa.

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35

Nabofa, M. Y. "Blood Symbolism in African Religion." Religious Studies 21, no. 3 (September 1985): 389–405. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0034412500017479.

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Symbolism has found spontaneous expression in several religious and secular practices among many different peoples of Africa. These expressions can be seen in religious emblems, ideograms, rituals, songs, prayers, myths, incantations, vows, customary behaviour and personifications. The under-standing of these religious symbols lends itself to rapid comprehensive and compact use; not only that, it also helps understanding and concentration. In fact, Mary Douglas expresses the view that such symbols, especially rituals, aid us in selecting experiences for concentrated attention, creative at the level of performance, and can mysteriously help the co-ordination of brain and body (1966, p. 63). Conversely, religious symbols have their ambiguities, and these could shroud their true meaning to the unwary. A religious symbol could also represent a complex set of ideas at different levels which gives room to diverse theological, philosophical and psychological interpretations. While we may agree with Raymond Firth (1973, p. 32) that an anthropologist is concerned primarily with the public use of the symbolic, and his aim is to separate symbols from referent so that he may describe the relations between them, we are of the view that those who are in the field of psychology of religion will be most concerned with how symbols influence the mind of the believer and thus understand the faith of the devotee better. In fact, it was the non-understanding of traditional African religious symbols and ideas that partly contributed to the way in which some of the early Western and Arab scholars, investigating African thought forms, looked at the African indigenous beliefs in a derogatory manner. As a method of scholarly research, a careful and meaningful study of the religious significance of certain ritualistic elements and behaviour enables us to understand and appreciate the more why certain things are treated in some special way by the believers, and thus helps to deepen our knowledge of that very faith. It helps us to grasp the essence of the religion rather than its incidentals. In order, therefore, to help comprehend some of the practices in African traditional religion attempts will be made in this paper to discuss the central significance of blood in African belief. Although I consulted the works of some anthropologists and theologians on African religions and philosophy of life, the bulk of the ethnographic materials used in this paper are mainly drawn from my fieldwork (1975–82) among some groups of Nigerians; and a great deal of my interpretations are surrounded by the theories propounded by Mary Douglas and Raymond Firth.

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Gundani, Paul H. "Views and Attitudes of Missionaries Toward African Religion in Southern Africa During the Portuguese Era." Religion and Theology 11, no. 3-4 (2004): 298–312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157430104x00140.

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AbstractThis artocle focusses on the religious encounter between Portuguese missionaries and the African societies in Southern Africa. It is argued that the crusading mentality embedded in mediaeval Catltolicism and the terms of the Padruado underpinned and reinforced the views and attitudes that Portuguese missionrzries constructed around African religion and ritual. The perceptions that Christianity was superior to, and in no position to negotiate and dialogue with African religion, contributed significantly towards their failure to understand and to evangelise the societies they came in contact with. Moreover the failure to appreciate that traditional religion was a centrifugal force around which all life, not just kingship, gravitated, resulted in their disillusionment and immature abandonment of the mission field. This analysis is based on, and aided by, secondary sources zuritten on the Portuguese activities in Southern Africa.

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Bompani, Barbara. "Religion and Development from Below: Independent Christianity in South Africa." Journal of Religion in Africa 40, no. 3 (2010): 307–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006610x525435.

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AbstractMost of the literature on African independent churches (AICs) in South Africa has not paid much attention to their economic and developmental role. In contrast, this article will show how AICs are involved in important economic activities such as voluntary mutual benefit societies, savings clubs, lending societies, stokvels (informal savings funds), and burial societies that control millions of South African rand. In light of firsthand empirical research, this article investigates these kinds of activities, and analyses independent churches’ developmental role. This will allow us to better understand how these communities play a strong and supportive function among Africans in a deprived economic situation. In a period of socio-political transformation in South Africa, AICs are able to answer the needs of the people and their hunger to rebuild an identity. My major critique of classical research on AICs is the failure of the literature to address ‘social change’ in a theoretically adequate way, as something more than just descriptions of ‘traditional’ social structures away from interpretations of modernity.

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Majeed, H. M. "Religion and the Problem of Rationality: Insights from Akan Religious Thought." Thought and Practice 6, no. 2 (July 21, 2015): 1–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tp.v6i2.2.

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Arguments against the practice of religion and, in general, against belief in metaphysical entities, have been made in different cultures and at different times in human history. This article, however, does not offer a historical outline of such arguments. Rather, it reflects on some contemporary remarks made, especially in Western thought, against religion. It illustrates how a correct understanding of Traditional Akan Religion renders untrue claims that seek to dismiss religion on the grounds of irrationality. Utilising philosophical reflection, it shows how rational belief in a Traditional African Religion such as the Akan one is.Key WordsRationality, revelation, logical positivism, predestination, free will, Akan religion, African religion

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Agthe, Johanna. "Religion in Contemporary East African Art." Journal of Religion in Africa 24, no. 1-4 (1994): 375–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006694x00219.

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AbstractThis article describes three aspects of religious art in East Africa: firstly it examines the artists' personal attitude to and motivation by the Christian religion; secondly, it looks at Christian and Bible subjects in their paintings; and lastly it considers traditional religion and the newer independent churches as motifs. It draws on interviews with artists, their works in the collection of the Frankfurt Museum für Völkerkunde and a recent unpublished diploma study by Alois Krammer. 1

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Rey, Terry, and Karen Richman. "The Somatics of Syncretism: Tying Body and Soul in Haitian Religion." Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 39, no. 3 (August 20, 2010): 379–403. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0008429810373321.

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The convergence of African religion and Christianity in the Atlantic world has inspired some of the most significant and most analyzed examples of syncretism in the study of religion. Scholarly discussions of these phenomena, however, tend to portray religions like Vodou in Haiti and Candomblé in Brazil as mergers of various Euro-Christian and ‘‘traditional’’ African elements that chiefly result from processes of cognitive ideation, thereby blurring the integrative somatic dimensions of religious syncretism. Modes of embodying knowledge, power, and morality are thus largely absent from the discussion of religious syncretism in Haitian Vodou and Catholicism, as well as other contact-cultural religions, whose congregational and performance spaces now span national boundaries. Drawing upon the historiography of Kongolese and Haitian religion, and on our multi-site ethnographic research among religious communities in Haiti, to think about religious syncretism in the African diaspora, this paper focuses on two key metaphors of mimetic knowledge and embodiment, mare and pwen (tying and point), arguing that they are both fundamental processes in Haitian religious syncretism and essential tropes for understanding Haitian Vodou and Catholicism, processes that are of predominantly Central African, and especially Kongolese, origin.

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Onunwa, Udobata R. "The individual and community in African traditional religion and society." Mankind Quarterly 34, no. 3 (1994): 249–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.46469/mq.1994.34.3.7.

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Chitando, Ezra. "Phenomenology of Religion and the Study of African Traditional Religious." Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 17, no. 4 (2005): 299–316. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157006805774550974.

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Luyaluka, Kiatezua Lubanzadio. "Theological Proofs of the Kinship of Ancient Egypt With South-Saharan Africa Rather Than Eastern and Western Civilizations." Journal of Black Studies 50, no. 1 (October 25, 2018): 87–105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0021934718808299.

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This article deals with the issue of the kinship of ancient Egyptian civilization with the neighboring ones. To the melanin-level proof offered by Cheikh Anta Diop and Obenga’s evidence of the linguistic relatedness of Kemet to the south-Saharan Africa, this article adds a theological proof. The article shows that the Eastern and Western epistemic paradigms brought by Persians and Greeks was destructive to the scientific nature of the religion ancient Egypt shared with Sumer and primitive Christianity; while, as seen through Kôngo religion which is demonstrated to be the continuation of kemetic religion, the epistemic paradigm of African traditional culture nurtures this religion. Therefore, the natural theological kinship of ancient Egypt is with south-Saharan African rather than with Asia and Europe.

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Khan, Aisha. "American religion: diaspora and syncretism from Old World to New." New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids 77, no. 1-2 (January 1, 2003): 105–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/13822373-90002531.

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[First paragraph]Nation Dance: Religion, Identity, and Cultural Difference in the Caribbean. PATRICK TAYLOR (ed.). Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. x +220 pp. (Paper US$ 19.95)Translating Kali 's Feast: The Goddess in Indo-Caribbean Ritual and Fiction. STEPHANOS STEPHANIDES with KARNA SINGH. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2000. xii + 200 pp. (Paper US$ 19.00)Between Babel and Pentecost: Transnational Pentecostalism in Africa and Latin America. ANDRÉ CORTEN & RUTH MARSHALL-FRATANI (eds.). Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001. 270 pp. (Paper US$ 22.95)Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions. STEPHEN D. GLAZIER (ed.). New York: Routledge, 2001. xx + 452 pp. (Cloth US$ 125.00)As paradigms and perspectives change within and across academie disciplines, certain motifs remain at the crux of our inquiries. Evident in these four new works on African and New World African and South Asian religions are two motifs that have long defined the Caribbean: the relationship between cultural transformation and cultural continuity, and that between cultural diversity and cultural commonality. In approaching religion from such revisionist sites as poststructuralism, diaspora, hybridity, and creolization, however, the works reviewed here attempt to move toward new and more productive ways of thinking about cultures and histories in the Americas. In the process, other questions arise. Particularly, can what are essentially redirected language and methodologies in the spirit of postmodern interventions teil us more about local interpretation, experience, and agency among Caribbean, African American, and African peoples than can more traditional approaches? While it is up to individual readers to decide this for themselves, my own feeling is that it is altogether a good thing that these works still echo long-standing conundrums: the Herskovits/Frazier debate over cultural origins, the tensions of assimilation in "plural societies," and the significance of religion in everyday life. Perhaps one of the most important lessons that research in the Caribbean has for broader arenas of scholarship is that foundational questions are tenacious even in the face of paradigm shifts, yet can always generate new modes of inquiry, defying intellectual closure and neat resolution.

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Mawere, J., R. M. Mukonza, A. Hungwe, and S. L. Kugara. "“Piercing the veil into Beliefs”: Christians Metaphysical Realities vis-à-vis Realities on African Traditional Medicine." African Journal of Religion Philosophy and Culture 2, no. 1 (June 1, 2021): 77–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.31920/2634-7644/2020/v2n1a5.

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This paper centres on the contentions between the use of African Traditional medicine and convoluted beliefs among some Christianity groups. It is argued that most Pentecostal churches in Africa vilify African cultural practices and deter their converts from using African traditional medicine. Feelings of disgrace and trepidation when asked about traditional healing frequently make it difficult, particularly for the individuals who have become Christians and have acknowledged western medicine, to reveal their insight into non-western treatments. Against this backdrop, the primary aim of this paper is to unveil the conflict between Christianity and the use of African traditional medicine. The broad aim is to create a platform for a conjectural dialogue towards appreciation for a ‘new world order’ that necessitates an integration of African Traditional Religion and Christianity through adopting a comprehension of cultural differences. The paper draws in the existing scholarly literature on the contention that Pentecostalism do not acclimatize with cultural practices of the African indigenous people preceding persuading them about switching to God who is introduced in the Bible. It has been established that as per the Bible and Christian teachings, the use of traditional medicine is a cursed thing. The authors recommend a confrontation of the healing crisis in Africa through fostering cordial cooperation and of biomedicine, African traditional practitioners and Christian groups.

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Chitando, Ezra, and Anna Chitando. "Weaving Sisterhood: Women African Theologians And Creative Writers." Exchange 34, no. 1 (2005): 22–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1572543053506310.

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AbstractAfrican American women have been keen to highlight that black women are at the 'bottom of the pile' in a society that espouses values of human equality. The situation of the women in Africa is probably worse, as their societies do not propagate human equality. Moreover they have to cope with many other problems such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, the threat of death and male dominance. Though African women theologians were few at the beginning of the 1990s, their number increased during the ten years that followed. This article shows how they were inspired by their sisters, the female African creative writers. Often they felt more solidarity with these sisters than with many African male theologians. Women African theologians and creative writers stand for the same struggle in order to prevent men using their religion — be it African traditional religion or Christianity — to oppress their sisters.

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Sharp, James E. "Book Review: Bridging the Gap: African Traditional Religion and Bible Translation." Missiology: An International Review 21, no. 1 (January 1993): 88. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/009182969302100119.

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Ireland, Jerry M. "African Traditional Religion and Pentecostal Churches in Lusaka, Zambia: An Assessment." Journal of Pentecostal Theology 21, no. 2 (2012): 260–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/17455251-02102006.

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This study seeks to discover how African Traditional Religion (ATR) is viewed by Pentecostal church leaders in Lusaka, Zambia. The convenience sample focused on fourteen Pentecostal churches of various denominational affiliations within the city of Lusaka, Zambia. A thirty-one-item survey tool, the Assessment of Traditional Religious Practices (ATRP), was developed and administered to 128 leaders regarding the prevalence of traditional religious practices among their congregants. The ATRP also assessed how these leaders typically respond to concerns related to ATR within their ministerial context. Findings indicated that traditional beliefs and practices continue to persist, though at nominal levels, within these churches. More importantly, a majority of these leaders feel adequately equipped to handle issues related to ATR because they understand their ministerial calling in terms of spiritual empowerment. The study concludes that the challenges presented by ATR regarding Christian discipleship continue to persist in local Pentecostal churches. However, leaders have employed a practical theological understanding of Pentecostalism, allowing them to overcome many of these same challenges.

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Kirby, Jon P. "The Islamic dialogue with African traditional religion: Divination and health care." Social Science & Medicine 36, no. 3 (February 1993): 237–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536(93)90007-q.

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Meiring, A. M. "From Christianity to African Religion and back again." Verbum et Ecclesia 26, no. 3 (October 3, 2005): 718–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.4102/ve.v26i3.247.

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This article passes from Christianity to African Religion and back again, in order to gain new insight on reconciliation. Traditional Christian reconciliation models are valuable but also contextual and limited; thus new models should be sought. African myths of community, acceptance and rebellion offer alternative ways of understanding reconciliation. When evaluated according to the principles of integration and transcendence, these myths meet the criteria of better religion and emphasise Christian notions that are often ignored in tradition Christianity. These new African-inspired insights can be used in Christian liturgy as a number of examples prove.

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