Sage Reference - Encyclopedia of African Religion (2024)

FAQs

What is African religion referred to as? ›

In the past, Africa religion used to be referred to as 'traditional' but this is no longer appropriate. 'Traditional' was used to distinguish Africa religion from Abrahamic religion which came to the continent as a result of proselytism. Colonialism supported the false view that Africa had no religion.

East African indigenous religions place a strong emphasis on ancestor worship and the spiritual connection to the land. Examples include the Swahili religion, the Maasai religion, and the Nyamwezi religion. West African indigenous religions emphasize animism and the worship of lesser gods associated with nature.

Christianity is the most widely practiced religions along with Islam and is the largest religion in Sub-Saharan Africa. Several syncretistic and messianic sects have formed throughout much of the continent, including the Nazareth Baptist Church in South Africa and the Aladura churches in Nigeria.

Many scholars have argued that African Traditional Religion has no founder. While it is true that African traditional religion has no founder, it is the position of this work that African Traditional Religion has founders.

In an era where forming an African identity aside from Colonialism is high on people's agenda, it's a compelling argument to some. Christianity was present in Africa 1000 years before the first European Colonialists arrived.

Christianity came first to the continent of Africa in the 1st or early 2nd century AD. Oral tradition says the first Muslims appeared while the prophet Mohammed was still alive (he died in 632). Thus both religions have been on the continent of Africa for over 1,300 years.

At the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade, African religious beliefs and practices were numerous and varied. In addition to a wide variety of polytheistic religions, a significant portion of the continent had for centuries fallen under Islamic influence.

Summary. North Africa forms part of the cradle that gave birth to the Bible, participating in the production of the Bible as we now have it. Mediterranean Africa had a marked effect, both in terms of the actual formation of the Bible and its interpretation.

Hinduism may have roots in Mesolithic prehistoric religion, such as evidenced in the rock paintings of Bhimbetka rock shelters, which are about 10,000 years old ( c. 8,000 BCE), as well as neolithic times. At least some of these shelters were occupied over 100,000 years ago.

According to the same study Christianity is expected to lose a net of 66 million adherents (40 million converts versus 106 million apostate) mostly to religiously unaffiliated category between 2010 and 2050, it is also expected that Christianity may have the largest net losses in terms of religious conversion.

What are angels in African culture? ›

Ehi is the name of a personal spirit in some West African religious beliefs, especially in Edo Nigeria and Benin. Ehi means "genius", but it also means "angel" in some Nigerian languages and refers to a spirit possessing a man, similar to a guardian angel.

According to Guinness, approximately 12.5 million more people converted to Islam than people converted to Christianity between 1990 and 2000.

In the 15th century Christianity came to Sub-Saharan Africa with the arrival of the Portuguese.

According to the African belief system, life does not end with death, but continues in another realm. Becoming an ancestor after death is a desirable goal of every individual, a feat which cannot be achieved if an individual asks for an unnatural death by attempting to utilize advance care directives.

In Christendom, religion is a personal thing for the salvation of the individual. In contrast, African traditional religion was usually a communal affair, practised not just for the spiritual and physical benefit of an individual or his immediate kin, but for the well-being of all within the purview of the celebrant.

Islam then spread slowly in much of the continent through trade and preaching. During this period these Muslims from North and West Africa came to be known by Europeans at large as Moors .

African Christianity is a new development of African religion, shaped by the. parameters ofpre-ChristianAfrican religionas the Christian- ity of the Jerusalem Church of the Acts of the Apostles was rooted in the. religion of old Israel. (

It is the religion which resulted from the sustaining faith held by the forebears of the present Africans" Over the years, some foreign scholars, investigators, missionaries and media outlets have been belittling the African traditional religion by describing it with some racially motivated terminologies such as ...

Religion. It is estimated that 50 percent of Nigerians are Muslim, 40 percent are Christian, and that the remaining 10 percent practice various indigenous religions. While Muslims can be found in all parts of Nigeria, their strongest footholds are among the Hausa and the Yoruba.