African traditional religion is a debatable subject among scholars of religions in Africa. The expression “African religion” is taken in some quarters to denote the multifaceted religions that now permeate the religious space in Africa. They argue that even though these religions may have been “imported” into Africa in the last two millennia, they have been “Africanized” to the extent that they are qualified to be described as African religion. But instead here we will discuss the archaic traditional religion of the African people.
African religion is like too many other things that emerge from Africa that have been labeled by early European writers (such as Emil Ludwig, A.B.. Ellis, P.A. Talbot, Leo Frobenius) with degrading terminologies. Some of these terms that have now been jettisoned include primitive, native, tribe, savage, ancestor worship, and animism. These labels might have come out of their ignorance, due to the problems that have often retarded accurate study of African...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Bibliography
Abioye, S. (1997). African traditional religion: An introduction. In I. Aderibigbe & D. Aiyegboyin (Eds.), Religion: Study and practice in Nigeria. Ijebu-Ode: Alamsek Press.
Adegbola, E. A. (1983). Traditional religion in West Africa. Ibadan: Jaystar Press.
Aderibigbe, I. (1997). Traditional religion in Lagos. In A. O. K. Noah (Ed.), Fundamentals of general studies. Lagos: Rex Charles Publications.
Aderibigbe, I., & Oguntola, D. (1997). Topical issues in African religion. Lagos: Adelad Edu.
Anderson, A. (1993). African Pentecostalism and the ancestors: Confrontation or compromise. Missionalia, 21(1), 26–39.
Awolalu, J., & Dopamu, P. (2006). West African traditional religion. Lagos: Macmillan Press.
Ellis, A. B. (1966). The Tshi- speaking people of the gold coast of West Africa. Oosterhout: Anthropological.
Farmer, H. H. (1943). The world and God. London: Nisbet.
Frobenius, L. (1913). The voice of Africa (Vol. 1–2). London: Hutchison.
Goldthorp, W. O. (2009). Medical classics: An account of the foxglove and some of its medicinal uses by William Withering. British Medical Journal, 338, b2189. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.b2189. (Original work published 1785).
Idowu, E. B. (1973). African traditional religion: A definition. London: SCIM Press.
Idowu, E. B. (1996). Olodumare: God in Yoruba belief. London: SCIM Press.
Jacobs, A. B. (1977). A textbook on African traditional religion. Ibadan: Aromolaran Press.
Kayode, J. (1984). Understanding African traditional religion. Ile-Ife: University of Ife Press.
Mbiti, J. (1970). African religions and philosophy. London: Heinemann Books.
Mbiti, J. (1975). Introduction to African religion. London: Heinemann Publications.
Opoku, A. (1968). West African traditional religion. London: SPCK.
Parrinder, G. (1977). African traditional religion. London: Sheldon Press.
Smith, A. (1984). Smith and son: An expedition into Africa. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
Talbot, P. A. (1926). The people of Southern Nigeria. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Oguntola-Laguda, D. (2020). African Traditional Religion. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_9120
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_9120
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-24347-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-24348-7
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences