in Africa. 4 From 2005 up until his death in 2019, Mbiti was an Emeritus professor at the University of Bern and parish minister to the town of Burgdorf, Switzerland. There is also a mystical order of the universe. He was an ordained Anglican priest, and is considered "the father of modern African theology". This order, established by God, guides the functioning of the universe, preventing it from falling into chaos; and it ensures the continuance of life and the universe itself. Like Mbiti and Green, Magesa notes that the world of African Traditional Religion is a hierarchically ordered place where, On the lowest rung of the ladder are spirits, who are active beings distinct from humans and reside in nature and phenomena such as trees, rivers, rocks, or lakes. With regard to the issue of offering one’s wife in generosity, this practice, as Laurenti Magesa has shown, applied to a very limited number of African ethnic groups, such as the Masai, and in very tightly controlled situations among friends within the same age group fraternity and on very limited occasions. African, religion is literally life and life is religion’ (Mbiti, 1997: 1-2). . Editorial Statement: This essay is a slightly modified excerpt from the section "Evaluating African Traditional Religion: The Descriptive Task" (98-107) in Fr. At stake here is nothing less than the question of human culpability and ultimate redemption, which has to do with the traditional Christian topic of sin and grace. “Many laws, customs, set forms of behavior, regulations, rules, observances and taboos, constituting the moral code and ethics of a given community, are held sacred, and are believed to have been instituted by God.” Furthermore, a person acts in ways that are good when he or she conforms to the customs and regulations of the community, or bad when he or she does not. Dependence here functions like a two-way street, with the dead needing continued respect from and support by the living, and the living needing at least benign neutrality on the part of the dead. Introduction Three religions dominates African continent: ATR, Islam and Christianity. Unlike Christianity and Islam, African religion does not have a sacred scripture (Mbiti, 1969). Written at the lowest reading levels, the 50-page story structure is straightforward and moves the reader through the text quickly and efficiently. This is the function of God’s providence and sustenance of the universe. They are thus “moral agents.” It is the ancestors, however, the custodians of tradition, who determine the way these agents act, and it is tradition that “supplies the moral code and indicates what the people must do to live ethically.” African traditions carry out their role as ethical guides in many ways, including myths and rituals. In this second edition, Dr Mbiti has updated his material to include the involvement of women in religion, and the potential unity to be found in what was once thought to be a mass of quite separate religions. An important area Green points to has to do with the role of God in these two systems of thought. This revision of a standard text ( LJ 7/75) provides an excellent overview of native religion in Africa. User Review  - Not Available - Book Verdict. The living are the link between death and life. John S. Mbiti explains that though the knowledge of God as the Supreme Being is not The fact that there are no written scriptures by the votaries of African traditional religion, does not in any way mean that the concept of the Supreme Being does not exist in their ontology. This revision of a standard text ( LJ 7/75) provides an excellent overview of native religion in Africa. In this paper I wish to examine the place and the role of women according to African Religion. The spirit medium is required to possess moral probity and integrity. "African Religions and Philosophy" is a systematic study of the attitudes of mind and belief that have evolved in the many societies of Africa. Those to whom this power is accessible can use it for good, such as healing, rainmaking, or divination, while others can use it for harm, through magic, witchcraft, and sorcery. Currently he is part-time professor at the University of Bern, and parish minister in Burgdorf, Switzerland. Mbiti makes this point too when he stresses that “the majority of African peoples believe that God punishes in this life.” Although God is concerned with humanity’s moral life and upholds the moral law, “there is no belief that a person is punished in the hereafter” for his or her wrongdoing in this life. It is time that African Traditional Religion be written by indigenous people who have not be contaminated by the western religions. Green opines that although superficially regarded, this may seem to be a minimal moral relationship—more like a kind of egoism on one side and fearful propitiation on the other—it also shows, however, the profound role that respect for age and for the fulfillment of lineage and familial duties play in this traditional setting. John Samuel Mbiti was a Kenyan-born Christian religious philosopher and writer. Therefore, the universe has dimensions of order and power as follows: first of all, there is order in the laws of nature. This Ghanaian Adinkra symbol means \"except for God\" and symbolizes the supremacy of God. He is married to Verena and they have four children: Kyeni, Maria, Esther and Kavata. While the universe has a beginning, many Africans believe that it does not have an end—either spatially or temporally. They were trapped. No matter how one looks at it, to “offer” the female members of one’s family as a mark of “hospitality” to a stranger is morally wrong, not just from the point of view of Christian morality but from a purely natural law point of view as well. Africans believe in the existence of a mystical, invisible, hidden, spiritual power in the universe. In fact, family is the main theme of these titles. In fact, family is the main theme of these titles. Rent and save from the world's largest eBookstore. These are “the pristine” men and women, the originators of the lineage or clan or ethnic group. February 21, 2019. Mbiti says that: According to Mbiti, human beings have a privileged position in the universe. In short, the question is whether the notion of “mercy” exists in the moral order of African Traditional Religion and whether the sacrifices of African religion amount to an expiatory understanding in African religious thought. Thus, to assert as Mbiti does that there are “no secret sins” or that “something or someone is ‘bad’ or ‘good’” only according to “outward conduct” is too careless a statement to make. Mbiti portrays traditional African religions as essentially monotheistic, despite a plethora of divinities and spirits. Church Life Journal Read, highlight, and take notes, across web, tablet, and phone. However, The point can be made then, that a significant symmetr y Green points out that there is a rational basis to African Traditional Religion that shows, in Kantian terms, that there is a “deep structure of universal moral and religious reason to it.” The three requirements of reason at the heart of this structure are: “first, a basic rule or procedure of moral choice; second, a metaphysic grounding the possibility of strict moral retribution; and third, . Everything is said to center on them. These traditional reads are brimming with spirited characters and positive values--but with a little extra excitement and bite, so hold on to your hats! Awolalu says ancestors…”are the guardians of family affairs, traditions, ethics and activities….They are regarded as presiding spiritually over the welfare of the family.”(Awolalu : … In 1900 some 58% of the population adhered to “pure” African Religion. This is a universal belief among Africans. By Green’s own admission, and as we shall see later, there are as many divergences on the architectonic hinge of these deep structures—God, the human person, and the material world—as there are similarities. It was nearby. Their significance lies in the genealogical positions and the rights and duties which derive from them.” Ancestors uphold right conduct by punishing moral violations, demanding respect and attention, and getting angry when not given due respect. Among the Chewa, according to James Amanze (2002:146) the ancestral spirits not only Mbiti emphasizes that Africans view the universe religiously. Written expressly for the middle grade struggling reader, the series does not contain strong language, edgy themes, or dysfunctional families. He discusses od’s transcendence and immanence, and od’s works such as creating, sustaining, judging, protecting, and helping. portrayed in African religions. “When punishment comes, it comes in the present life.” Whatever the difference in the deep structures that undergird the moral life in the Christian conception or in Africa Traditional Religion, Green, like Mbiti, concludes that Africans believe in a morally saturated universe: The role of intermediary agents and spirits in maintaining moral order in African Traditional Religion is quite remarkable, as we have already seen from the work of Mbiti. John Samuel Mbiti was a Kenyan-born Christian philosopher and writer. Islam does not fare any better. It also offers a useful and up-to-date list of books for more advanced reading, questions for ... African Religion is Found in Proverbs Riddles and Wise Sayings, Belief in Spirits Helps to Explain the Universe, The Meeting between African Religion Islam and Christianity, Religion Pays Attention to the Key Moments in the Life, Appendix B Books for Advanced Reading on African Religion, An Introduction to African Religion (2nd Edition). He contends that although African Traditional Religion generally refers to God as creator and sustainer of the universe, morally good, omniscient, and caring toward humans, “yet even where this is held to be true, the high god in Africa is very often regarded as distanced from human affairs.” And even when he is considered benign, “the high God is morally otiose, having little direct retributive relationship with humankind.” In some situations, the high God is cast in unfavorable terms as one who creates and who kills. ‘a trans-moral’ suspension of retribution in the face of self-confessed and inescapable human wrongdoing.” Green notes a similarity between this “deep structure” and that which has developed in Christian theology over centuries of effort at “grounding human moral striving in the face of the experiential difficulties that assault moral idealism.” In this Christian theological system, the idea of God as creator and sovereign expresses the moral requirements of impartial regard for all. African Traditional Religion is not essentially idolatrous, ... J. S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy, Heineman, 1969, ... which nullifies all dualistic notions, including constructs of self and other. To understand African tradition, one needs to understand the position of African Traditional Religion on God, the human person, and creation. University of Notre Dame, McGrath Institute for Church Life That is a beautiful picture of women in African society. Human beings maintain active and real relationships with the spiritual world, especially with the living dead, through offerings, sacrifices, and prayers. Inculturation, as we will argue later in Morality Truly Christian, Truly African, sheds the light of the gospel on cultural practices like this one to reveal what is sinful in them and to show that human beings, especially women, in this case, deserve better treatment than this. They form a chain through the links of which the forces of the elders [now with the community] exercise their vitalizing influence on the living generation.” For Magesa, the ancestors are primarily authority figures whose being implies “moral activity” in that they are the maintainers and enforcers of “norms of social action.” Although they are entrusted with these roles in their relationship with humans, “any capriciousness of the ancestors is not taken kindly by the living, just as it would not be acceptable from any elder in society.” The ancestors are beyond reproach. The ordering of the universe and its continuance depends on God. Secondly, there is moral and religious order. Human beings are the link between the heavens and the earth, between the visible and the invisible universe. One scholar who has written extensively on African Traditional Religion is John Mbiti, a Kenyan whom many consider the dean of living African theologians. Mbiti asserts that the “African religion is a written history in the hearts and experiences of people.” As a result, it is quite difficult to make a comparison between the traditional African religion and the modernized African religion. Other spirits with a significant role in maintaining the African traditional moral world include ancestors and lineage spirits “who operate in specific social contexts where their will is expressed through misfortunes,” and some other spirits “who do not act directly but who rely on human agents to effect their will.” These spirits underlie the power of spirit mediums who, as mediators between space and the human world and by virtue of the moral authority this confers, are able to arbitrate between living human beings. Mystical power is found in all of them, in diminishing degrees. Second, Africans believe in a moral order given by God, stipulated by the ancestors in the past. This view influences the way humans relate to the universe: on the one hand, they strive to maintain harmony between themselves and the invisible universe by observing the moral and religious order; at the same time, humans see the universe in a utilitarian way, from the point of view of what is beneficial or harmful to them. Last week, in a veiled comparison between African traditional religions and Christianity, which is the major religion in Jamaica, some of the key elements of African traditional religions were discussed using Kenya-born Professor John S. Mbiti, a well-known scholar and researcher of African religions, as the main reference. Featured Image: Edo people, Queen Mother Pendant mask, circa 16th c.; Source: Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0. A third scholar of interest to us here is Laurenti Magesa, the central thesis of whose book on African religion is captured quite succinctly in the subtitle: African religion constitutes a tradition of abundant life. However, in African religious thought God is distanced from the task of moral affairs because the task of moral retribution and maintenance of effective moral norms is usually performed by spiritual agents of much lower standing—that is, “by spirits of various sorts, by ghosts and even by human practitioners of spiritual arts.” Other characteristics that show the contrast between (Western) Christian thought and African Traditional Religion, according to Green, are the nonexistence of concepts of heaven and hell in African Traditional Religion, the lack of messianic expectations and hope, and the absence of eschatological thought with God “stepping in to right all wrongs or to punish wickedness.” And although African Traditional Religion affirms the continuation of life after death, where the person is believed to join the spirit world of the ancestors to continue life in some ways similar to the life before death, this belief does not constitute a hope for improved existence or for ultimate reward and punishment since a person’s moral depravity or moral rectitude “[does] not count in the beyond and whatever penalties or rewards those may bring have no bearing on life after death.”. 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