The welfare continue reading ere ibeji spirit of the twins. Precursors of the 1930 great indigenous revival among the. On the belief in god in african traditional religion, e. About us harvesters international christian centre. On the th of december, 2003, the world saw the birth of the greatest changeagent known to man. The harvesters dream, a divine vision, given to pastor bolaji idowu, started off with just a handful of people. Soteriology on the interface of traditional african. Religion 1995 25, 339355 ancestors, the sacred and god.
Bolaji idowu, john mbiti, okot pbitek and kwame appiah. The worship of god in african traditional religion a nigerian. She surveys their ideas about the existence of truth and of a high god. God in yoruba religion maintains that the yorubas have a fundamental ethical. Bolaji idowu, who mentions that the deity oduduwa who is an ancestor as well as a divinity in the eastern yoruba region is seen as female but assumes a male persona in the western and central yoruba regions. The religious traditions and beliefs of the african peoples have enough differences to. Introduction to african traditional religion free online. He is also well known for his ethnographic and theological studies of the yoruba people. Yoruba, to combine two myths of origin and accept the collective story as truth idowu. Boaheng, god and the traditional african experience. Yoruba religious beliefs are part of itan, the total complex of songs, histories, stories, and other cultural concepts which make up the yoruba society.
In all the previous works which have reference to the religion of the yoruba, the deity has been assigned a place which makes him very remote, of. No wonder, bolaji idowu describes the yoruba religion as a mixed bag of individual cults with olodumare holding the cults together and maintaining their oneness e. The explanation was given in chapter one of bolaji idowu s work where he excluded the personality of ajala in his own concept of ori partly because of the questionable character of his nature. Some scholars have tried to put this misconception to rest by contending that the knowledge of god was not foreign to africans. This is the complete text of what is african traditional religion. The golden rule principle in an african ethics and kants universalizability principle an african indigenous ethics revolve round the golden rule principle as the ultimate moral principle. Is it possible to adapt christianity to a culture so that it maintains its identity while being understandable to the. Galadima evaluation of the theology of bolaji idowu i 09 wlconsciously syncretize christianity. The concepts of ori and human destiny in traditional. Parrinder in 1954, but later developed by bolaji idowu and john mbiti in this direction. This conference was to develop adequate programmes for biblical training of laymen to help their needs for deeper teaching of the scriptures, for understanding and application of their truths. Bolaji idowu must be given credit for the pioneering work that he did in this regard. It is so because the concept of, and the belief in, olodumar e are undergoing cir.
Bolaji idowu and john mbiti have sought to address the problem, but it is not an entirely new one. Mbiti, geoffrey parrinder and emmanuel, bolaji idowu. Ere ibeji spirit of the twins chief yagbe awolowo onilu. Professor bolaji idowu has famously suggested the term. In some places, according to bolaji idowu, it is no longer known. Find all the books, read about the author, and more. Cox this paper holds that the sacred refers to the central and most fundamental reality for believers which, although wholly other, is manifested through worldly objects or events hierophanies.
The golden rule principle in an african ethics, and kants. The study of yoruba religious tradition in historical perspective this essay presents an overview of past and recent scholarship in yoruba religion. His discussions of the issues included those problems caused by the geography of the continent. How about the church on the th of december, 2003, the world saw the birth of the great change agent the harvesters dream. John set out to refute some of the erroneous claims about african traditional religion. African traditional religion in a globalizing world. This chapter discusses the spirit world in african thought systems and practices. Africa has been labeled, stigmatized and misconstrued as a dark continent, devoid of the knowledge of god until the arrival of the european missionaries.
Yoruba scholar of african traditional religion, brings out the harmful. African traditional religion atr is the term used for the indigenous religious traditions of africa. These included size of the continent, derogatory appellations, such as the dark continent, multiplicity and complexity of every aspect in africa like culture, language, climate and such like. The daily morning worship is simple and usually private in that it is usually the activity of one person. A self initiation ritual into the yoruba origin ifa system. Bolaji idowu argues that the concept of god can well be expressed and articulated. Primal women in such a universe arguably find themselves even more vulnerable as. While atr has been often seen in negative terms, especially by early missionaries, later studies have demonstrated that atr is not really what these outside observers earlier on assumed. They acknowledged the fact that africans had known god before the missionaries came ray, 1976. Bolaji idowu 191993 was the third nativeborn leader of the methodist church nigeria.
The understanding of god in african theology university of pretoria. Politically, the traditional yoruba societies combine effectively a host of. He said africans combine a belief in the existence of an omnipotent and. He was president of the church from 1972 to 1975, and when the leadership title of the church was changed, he became its patriarch from 1976 until his retirement in 1984. African traditional religion and its global contributions. The three main religious traditionsafrican traditional religion, christianity, and islamconstitute the triple religious heritage of the african continent. Africa is a massive continent with diverse religious traditions, to the extent that within the same tradition there have been variations. With due respect for their pioneering work, we must now admit that bolaji idowu and john mbiti, the two giants in the field, have invented a paradigm mostly characterized by what kwasi wiredu in this issue aptly termed unrigorous analogies of a foreign inspiration. The study of yoruba religious tradition in historical.
A critical evaluation of bolaji idowu s theology and religious language africa journal of evangelical theology vol. Jesus as ancestor my presentation will embrace the african traditional religion commonly known as atr. Law, morality and the african cultural heritage nordic journal of. The threeself principle as a model for the indigenous church. This is a 3hour summary lecture on the basic components of african traditional religions.
He was president of the church from 1972 to 1975, and when the leadership title of the church was changed, he became its patriarch from 1976 until his retirement in. In close examination, for him, as for that which determines the essence of every individuals humanity is received from olodumare. Doc the definition of god in yoruba culture ayorinde. Faculty bulus galadima cook school of intercultural. Some scholars tend to exalt traditional african religion at the expense of the biblical meaning of salvation, as well as undermining the value of traditional african religion. A self initiation ritual into the yoruba origin ifa system of knowledge, spiritual development and divination showing 17 of 7 messages. The earliest studies of yoruba religious traditions were carried out by mlssionarles, travellers and. Many african scholars such as bolaji idowu, mbiti, bediako and others have posed a question about the interrelationship between traditional african religion and christianity. In yoruba religion it is thought that about two generations after death, every human soul has a chance to return to earth in the body of a newborn, mostly within the same family. Ekwunife 1990 defines african traditional religion as those institutionalized beliefs and practices of indigenous religion of africa which are the result of traditional africans. Bolaji idowu has said, there is a common africanness about the total culture and religious.
A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. In the conclusion the coherence between both themes is shown with. In other words, emi the life giving entity is regarded by the yoruba as the lifeforce of a person. In the gentile church of the early centuries christian thinkers also debated the relationship between the christian faith and the religious context from which new believers had been drawn. Bolaji idowu has been one of the more influential theologians in africa during the last half of the 2dh century. Bolaji idowu, referred to as his preeminence bolaji within the nigerian methodist circles, was the third indigenous leader of the methodist church nigeria, from 1972 to 1984. The concepts of ori and human destiny it is the ancestral guardian soul, having its physical symbolization as the physical head. It is reported from havana that the roman catholic church claims that seventy per cent of cubas elevenmillion people are catholics. Bolaji idowu was the third nativeborn leader of the methodist church nigeria, serving from 1972 to 1984. The question whether olodumare, god in y oruba belief, as bolaji idowu translat ed it, is god is a tortuous one. As christianity is widely perceived through the lens of the western world, the west being the. Matthew mcmahon historical theology articles today, many christians are turning back to the puritans to, walk in the old paths, of gods word, and to continue to proclaim old truth that glorifies jesus christ. He, therefore, says that many parallel elements of these two religions can merge without conflict. Reflections on the meaning of the sacred in zimbabwean death rituals james l.
For this simple worship, the worshipper provides himself with water and kolanuts. Welcome to the summary lecture of african traditional religions. Bolaji idowu 191993 was the third nativeborn leader of the methodist church nigeria, serving from 1972 to 1984. For each theme, she outlines the significance of each authors work. Dada adelowo introduction this paper is motiated by the need.
Religion and the future of christianity in the global village in one world or many. The handbook of yoruba religious concepts by baba ifa karade, olodumare. Kapteina the formation of african evangelical theology 63 christian education strategy conference. Given this consideration, ori is nothing short of what the yoruba call ipin or okeipori. In 1972, he was elected president of the methodist church nigeria. These five elements he called the structures of african traditional religion, while awolalu and dopamu see them as the features of west african traditional religion 1979. Spirit and spirits in african religious traditions.
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