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African Traditional Religion and Sustainable Cultural, Social and Economic Dynamics

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The Palgrave Handbook of African Traditional Religion

Abstract

This chapter sets out to show that despite the globalization paradigm and the fact that Christianity, Islam, Science and Western education have had an impact on African Traditional Religion, African Religion is still a force to reckon with. We, therefore, need to exploit its influential elements for the good of us all. To achieve this goal, this study begins by revisiting the definitions of African Religion and the environment within which African Religion operates. It also points out that various elements in African Religion deserve refinement in order to be in consonant with the prevailing realities that are redefining the people of modern-day Africa. Toward the end of the discourse, this chapter discusses how the universalization, modernization, politicization, commercialization and individualization of religious ideas and practices have revitalized African Indigenous Religion.

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Notes

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  2. 2.

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    Mbiti, J. S., African Traditional Religon 1968. Nairobi: East African Education Publishers Shaw Rosaling. The Invention of African Traditional Religion (1990) 20, 339–352.

  5. 5.

    Olupona, J. African Religions: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2014).

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    Gathogo, J. M., The Relevance and Influence of African Religion in Post-Apartheid South Africa and Beyond (Churchman, Summer, 2007). (https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/121-02_163.pdf).

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    Ibid.

  8. 8.

    Olupona, J., African Religions: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2014). https://blog.oup.com/2014/05/15-facts-on-african-religions/.

  9. 9.

    Magesa, J., African Religion, The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002).

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    Mbiti, J. S., African Religions and Philosophy. Second edition (Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1999).

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    Krüger, J. S., Lubbe, G. J. A. and Steyn, H. C. The Human Search for Meaning: A Multi-Religion Introduction to the Religions of Humankind (Pretoria: Van Schaaik Publishers, 2009).

  12. 12.

    Magesa, African Religion, The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life, 2002.

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    Turaki, Y., Christianity and African Gods: A Method in Theology (Potchefstroomse Universiteit vir Christelike Hoër Onderwys, Potchefstroom, 2009).

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    Krüger, J. S. G., Lubbe, G. J., & . Steyn, H. C., The Human Search for Meaning: A Multi-Religion Introduction to the Religions of Humankind (Pretoria: Van Schaaik Publishers, 2009).

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    Mndende, N. “Ancestors and Healing in African Religion: A South African Context” in Ingo Wulfhorst (ed.), Ancestors, Spirits and Healing in Africa and Asia: A challenge to the church (Geneva: The Lutheran World Federation), 2005, p. 13.

  16. 16.

    John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy. Second edition (Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1999).

  17. 17.

    Gathogo, J. M., The Relevance and Influence of African Religion in Post-Apartheid South Africa and Beyond (Churchman, Summer, 2007). (https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/121-02_163.pdf).

  18. 18.

    Mndende, N., “Ancestors and Healing in African Religion: A South African Context” in Ingo Wulfhorst (ed.), Ancestors, Spirits and Healing in Africa and Asia: A challenge to the church (Geneva: The Lutheran World Federation), 2005, p. 13.

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    Bolaji Idowu, E, African Traditional Religion: A Definition (London: SCM Press, 1973).

  20. 20.

    Ibid.

  21. 21.

    John S. Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy. Second edition (Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers, 1999.

  22. 22.

    Gathogo, J. M., The Relevance and Influence of African Religion in Post-Apartheid South Africa and Beyond (Churchman, Summer, 2007). (https://biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/churchman/121-02_163.pdf).

  23. 23.

    Olupona, J., African Religions: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2014). https://blog.oup.com/2014/05/15-facts-on-african-religions.

  24. 24.

    Hackett, R., “Revitalization in African Traditional Religion.” In: African Traditional Religions in Contemporary Society, ed. J. K. Olupona (New York: Paragon House), pp. 135–148.

  25. 25.

    Horton, Robin. “On The Rationality Of Conversion Part I.” Religious Conversion: An African Perspective, edited by Brendan Carmody, Gadsden Publishers, Lusaka, Zambia, 2015, pp. 73–92. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvh8qzmc.9. Accessed 23 Feb. 2021.

  26. 26.

    https://neearth.org.

  27. 27.

    https://thisisafrica.me/african-identities/relevance-african-indigenous-religions-21st-centur.y.

  28. 28.

    Hackett, R.L., ‘Revitalization in African Traditional Religion’, in Olupona 1991: 135–149.

  29. 29.

    Ibid.

  30. 30.

    https://teol.ku.dk/cas/publications/publications/occ._papers/terhaar2000.pdf.

  31. 31.

    Ibid.

  32. 32.

    Gerrie ter Haar ibid.

  33. 33.

    Magesa, African Religion, The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life, 2002.

  34. 34.

    Dopamu, D., Health and Healing within the Traditional African Context. In: Orita, Ibadan Journal of Religious studies XV11/2 December, 1985.

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    teol.ku.dk›cas›publications›publications›occ._papers›terhaar2000.pd.

  36. 36.

    Hackett, R.L.J., ‘Revitalization in African Traditional Religion’, in Olupona 1991: 135–149.

  37. 37.

    cypressgh.blogspot.com›2018›12›women-are-not-meant-to-be-in-her.html.

  38. 38.

    https://irwellesreport.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/trokosi-tod.

  39. 39.

    https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/LR/HarmfulTraditionalPracticesLiberia.doc.

  40. 40.

    Awuah-Nyamekye, “Salvaging Nature: The Akan Religio-Cultural Perspective. Worldview: Global Religions, Culture and Ecology, vol. 13, no. 3 (2009) 251–282.

  41. 41.

    Awuah-Nyamekye, “Teaching Sustainable Development from the Perspective of Indigenous Spiritualities of Ghana,” In Religion and Sustainable Development Opportunities and Challenges for Higher Education (pp. 25–39), edited by Cathrien de Pater and Irene Dankelman (Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2009).

  42. 42.

    Ibid.

  43. 43.

    https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234093093_Religion_and_Development_African_Traditional_Religion’s_Perspective.

  44. 44.

    https://irwellesreport.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/trokosi-todays-slavery.

  45. 45.

    https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/LR/HarmfulTraditionalPracticesLiberia.doc.

  46. 46.

    www.liberiapastandpresent.org›ArchiveNewspapers›GhanaHistoricalOverviewAndBackgroundRitualKillings.htm.

  47. 47.

    Gerrie ter Haar ‘Rats, cockroaches, and people like us’: in Human Rights and Responsibilities in the World Religions ED. Joseph Runzo, J., Martin, M., & Arvind Sharma, A., 2003.

  48. 48.

    Dewey, John. “The Democratic Faith and Education.” The Antioch Review, vol. 4, no. 2, 1944, pp. 274–283. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4609010. Accessed 22 Feb. 2021. Dewey, John. “The Democratic Faith and Education.” The Antioch Review 4, no. 2 (1944): 274–83. Accessed February 22, 2021. https://doi.org/10.2307/4609010.

  49. 49.

    https://teol.ku.dk/cas/publications/publications/occ._papers/terhaar2000.pdf.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clarke County School District, Athens, GA, USA

    Mensah A. Osei

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  1. Mensah A. Osei
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Religion, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA

    Ibigbolade S. Aderibigbe

  2. Department of History, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Toyin Falola

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Osei, M.A. (2022). African Traditional Religion and Sustainable Cultural, Social and Economic Dynamics. In: Aderibigbe, I.S., Falola, T. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of African Traditional Religion. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89500-6_33

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