Book Review of Religion and Faith in Africa (by Orabator)

Journal of Interreligious Studies , 2019

Verbum Et Ecclesia, 2011

Ethnologia Actualis, 2022

Religion is an indispensable factor which explains the development of the sub-Saharan African continent as well as linking Africa with other continents. Religious transformation in Africa went hand in hand with human history, social, political, and economic experiences. Over time, African Indigenous Religions (AIR) spread to the other parts of the world through human migrations such as slave trade. The external oriented religions such as Christianity, Islam and religions originating in Asia diffused to Africa from the 1 st century. (pp.5, 35, 51) These religious traditions are co-existing and affecting each other while being shaped by African environment. (p.12) Recent studies on religion address, among other aspects, new religious practices in Africa and diaspora (Aderibigbe-Medine 2015), religion and reconciliations in Africa (Chapman-Spong 2003), relationship between religion and sexuality (Van Klinken, 2019; Chitando-Van Klinken 2016) and religion and politics in Africa. (Abink 2014) However, there has always been a need of updating sources to capture new trends, methodology and perspectives conducted in African context.

2011

Nominated in 2013 for the 2015 Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion! "This well-crafted book probes the key dimensions of Africa’s existential predicament. It constitutes an intellectual response to a gnawing “African situation”—the starting-point for grasping Africa’s social and religious quest. Beyond split explanations of external (e.g., colonization/slavery) vs. internal (e.g., leadership/cultural values) factors, this study accounts more comprehensively for emergent issues shaping this situation. The situation reflects a gamut of problems in (traditional) African religion and material culture, which hitherto defines African communality, polities and destinies vis-à-vis the cosmos and nature. Thus, African religion and communities, with their attendant values, operate via adaptation, rather than by critical engagement with larger issues of society and civilization, especially those shaped by the advent of (post-) modernity. The communal drive for natural and social harmony inevitably produces a preservationist view of culture (“leaving things as they are”). This study takes an integrative approach to religion, society and civilization, eschews dichotomies, broadly defines and resignifies life and wholeness as a true end of Africans’ quest today (from the Back Cover) ENDORSEMENTS (For more endorsements, see the US & World edition 2013 by University Press of America @ url: https://rowman.com/ISBN/9780761862680) “This book … strives to lay bare the determining structures, decisive trends, and dominant principle that fashion and serve the goals of thought and action in Africa. … [It] is a project of interpretation of life’s heritage and baggage which Africans employ to craft their identities, sustain flourishing human socialities, and actualize their potentials. …. If there is a select group of books that captures the broad phenomenology of African peoples’ spirituality this book is arguably one of it.” ~NIMI WARIBOKO, Katherine B. Stuart Professor & Chair of Christian Ethics, Andover Newton Theological School, Massachusetts, USA “A formidable contribution to a giant topic … The author proceeds to the project with a broad knowledge of the field as well as with impressing pedagogical skills, and the result is a book that will serve as an important discussion partner for scholars of religion, theology, and biblical studies in Africa in the years to come.” ~KNUT HOLTER, Professor of Old Testament studies, MHS School of Mission and Theology, Norway “A must-read document for every African citizen; a benchmark … for the new African project. [The] time has come for an African renaissance … with this cornerstone book …” ~DR. DANIEL ETOUNGA-MANGUELLE, Chairman and CEO of SADEG Consulting Group, Yaoundé, Cameroon & former member of the World Bank’s Council of African Advisors “… A richness of bibliographical references and sources, together with innovative theories, is a further confirmation of the presence of new prestigious African authors committed to the challenge of understanding Africa.” ~Professor BEATRICE NICOLINI, PhD, Chair of History and Institutions of Africa, Faculty of Political Science, Catholic University, Milan-Italy "

Journal of World Christianity, 2021

The massive accession to Christian faith in post-colonial Africa is leading to the ongoing creation of distinctively African forms of Christian thought and practice that differ in significant ways from those of the West-a trend anticipated by developments in Black American Christianity. Africana Religious Studies has been imagined as a field that would 'generate credible scholarship on indigenous African religious traditions' yet the rise of African Christianity raises questions about what constitutes indigeneity. If the Ethiopian church represents 'Africa indigenously Christian do these more recent developments suggest Christianity indigenously African? Can Christianity be considered indigenously African? Is there a need for Africana religious scholarship to reassess the widespread notion of Christianity as a cultural product of the West and an imposition alien to Africana peoples? If so, what does the rise of African Christianity indicate about both nature and structure of Christianity, understood as an Africana religion?

African Social Science and Humanities Journal

The thrust of this paper is driven by the current reactions of Pentecostal Christians to the African religious (AR) material elements in some parts of Nigeria. There have been occasions of touching the AR artefacts and countermining of AR by these Pentecostal pastors. One of the most disrespected religions which receive discourteous treatments in Africa and by Africans of other faith is African religion. Africa religion (AR) stands out to be a prominent dimension that permeated the cosmological, metaphysical and epistemology comprehension of life by the ancient Africans. The religious experiences of this religion fashioned a spirituality of social relation, communal relationship, and opened-mindedness. Almost all descendants of African societies had a taste of this religion’s spirituality. However, colonialism cum religious imperialism staged a colossal presence with disregard to its gross to the African Religion. In effect, in modern African society, when most Africans pick-up a n...

The Christian mission in African did not start in a vacuum because the Africans were already religious people and had positive traditions which contributed to the understanding of the Christian message. In the process of Christianity’s expansion in Africa, efficient African initiatives have took place. Dr. David B. Barrett, the editor of this book presents both the orthodox and unorthodox African initiatives in religion. Meanwhile, as new days come with new opportunities and challenges, Dr. Barrett required African Christians to find new initiatives in order to meet their contemporary needs. This paper puts at your disposal the summary of the book and my own assessment of it.

Rencontre des Traditions Religieuses de l’Afrique avec le Christianisme, L’Islam et la Laicite: A partir des Ecrits de Leopold Sedar Senghor

It has become fashionable for scholars of religion writing through the medium of European languages to employ the use of the term, “African Traditional Religion” (ATR), to refer to the autochthonous religions of Africa. It is my considered view that this is incorrect. In addition, it seems that the use of this term “ATR” seems to diminish from the value of the indigenous religions of Africa as authentic religions. Some scholars even use the term “ancestral religion”. Both of the terms seem to imply that the indigenous religions of Africa are not real religions in the full sense of the word.

Jumuga journal of education, oral studies, and human sciences, 2024

Characteristically, African Religion is a resilient enterprise that cuts across centuries of interaction with other religions such as Christianity and Islam. This research article sets out to unveil its resilient characteristics, as it underlines the fact that it is part and parcel of the African cultural heritage. Methodologically, it highlights the multi-dimensional ways in which the African Religion has permeated into the lives of Africans to date. In the context of Christianity and Islam, it has remained a 'controversial' area of research among theologians, as some fail to understand its relevance. On the flip-side, there are other scholars who contends that it needs to be recognized as an independent and self-fulfilling religion, just as it is the case with Christianity, Islam, and other world religions. To address the divergent views, an application of an Afro-Biblical Dialogue, as a theory, has been proposed to address this development. As the dialogical methodology, this model which was first adopted by the Jerusalem Christian Council in the wake of Hellenism (Acts 15), will thus attempt to answer the question regarding the place of Gentiles who became Christians. Were they meant to abandon their religio-cultural backgrounds?