Download or read book RELIGIOUS SYNCRETISM IN AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY written by ISAIAH OLUWAJEMIRIYE OLATOYAN and published by Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2024-04-18 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christianity among the African people, whether on the soil of Africa or in diaspora, is perceived and defined differently by different people. For instance, among African traditional religious people and Muslims, Christianity is a foreign religion that must not be allowed to thrive in Africa. To several Africans who profess Jesus, Christianity is good, but it is not adequate and effective enough to handle all human needs. Still, among some Western Christians and missionaries, African Christianity is superficial and lacks total commitment to Christ. Of course, the Africans are a cultural people with profound religious inclinations. Their traditional religion (ATR) has tremendously shaped their worldviews and socioeconomic and political activities. Consequently, when traditional Africans are converted to Christianity, they do not break ties with their traditional religions completely. The examination of relevant biblical texts on syncretism, however, reveals that God condemns the worship of many gods and places a curse on anyone who offers sacrifices to carved images and bows to them in worship. Therefore, this work investigates the root cause of religious syncretism among African people. In the attempt to find answers to why the average African Christian finds it difficult, if not impossible, to abandon his/her traditional religious belief systems completely to embrace Christianity, the author concludes that unless the issues surrounding the African forgotten and secret covenants are exposed and decisively addressed in the light of biblical teaching, syncretism will continue to be a stigma on the fabric of African Christianity. Therefore, to overcome the threats of syncretism in African Christianity, there is a need to establish a sound theological and missiological framework that can address the problems associated with the African worldviews and belief systems. This task must be carried out under the searchlight of Scriptures.
Download or read book Making Disciples in Africa written by Jack Pryor Chalk and published by Langham Publishing. This book was released on 2013-08-14 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With two-thirds of sub-Saharan Africa professing to be Christian it should be a concern to all Christians that the biblical worldview has had little impact on the shaping of contemporary African culture. In this book Jack Chalk analyses the belief systems of the worldviews that are based on Christianity and African Traditional Religion. The analysis, conclusion and recommendations are presented with the view to helping the church in Africa deal with syncretism and the effect it has on the beliefs and practices of its members.
Download or read book Reinventing Religions written by Sidney M. Greenfield and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2001 with total page 238 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Once a central concept in anthropology, syncretism has recently re-emerged as a valuable tool for understanding the complex dynamics of ethnicity, postcolonialism, and transnationalism. Building on a century-long tradition of scholarship, this important book formulates a broader view of the mixing and interpenetration of religious beliefs and practices, primarily from Africa and Europe, highlighting the ways in which religions and cultures on both sides of the Atlantic have been assimilated and innovatively changed. Divided into four sections, the book focuses on religious syncretism in Brazil, Jamaica, and other parts of the Caribbean and West Africa. Greenfield and Droogers have brought together an array of outstanding international scholars whose rich and varied essays on specific geographical locales and customs comprise an innovative and comprehensive view of the transference of religious traditions and their continuity and reformulation on two continents.
Download or read book Syncretism and Christian Tradition written by Ross Kane and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Syncretism has been a part of Christianity from its very beginning, when early Christians expressed Jesus' Aramaic teachings in the Greek language. Defined as the phenomena of religious mixture, syncretism carries a range of connotations. In Christian theology, use of syncretism shifted from a compliment during the Reformation to an outright insult in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The term has a history of being used as a neutral descriptor, a pejorative marker, and even a celebration of indigenous agency. Its differing uses indicate the challenges of interpreting religious mixture, challenges which today relate primarily to race and revelation. Despite its pervasiveness across religious traditions, syncretism is poorly understood and often misconceived. Ross Kane argues that the history of syncretism's use accentuates wider interpretive problems, drawing attention to attempts by Christian theologians to protect the category of divine revelation from perceived human interference. Kane shows how the fields of religious studies and theology have approached syncretism with a racialized imagination still suffering the legacies of European colonialism. Syncretism and Christian Tradition examines how the concept of race figures into dominant religious traditions associated with imperialism, and reveals how syncretism can act a vital means of the Holy Spirit's continuing revelation of Jesus.
Download or read book Syncretism in Religion written by Anita Maria Leopold and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Syncretism - the fusion of different beliefs into one religious system - has long been controversial in scholarship. It is widely held that religion, culture and ethnicity are pure entities that may become mixed in encounter and lead to impure, hybrid forms. 'Syncretism in Religion' presents a selection of essays committed to solving the problems of syncretism. The essays reflect the full breadth of religious traditions that could be called syncretistic. An overview of the historical background of syncretism is given, alongside classical readings from the history of religion, definitions of syncretism in relation to theories of power, and an assessment of the future of the subject. This volume brings together the work of authors who have made significant contributions in the field, some appearing for the first time in English. It will be of interest to any student or scholar of religion, philosophy or anthropology concerned with the dynamics of cultural contact and change.
Download or read book Syncretism and Christian Tradition written by Ross Kane and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2020 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Studying the history of syncretism's use indicates wider interpretative problems in religious studies and theology regarding race and revelation. It also indicates the importance of seeing "tradition" as adaptive and amalgamating rather than static. In theology and religious studies alike, discourses of syncretism are positioned within racialized perceptions which construct a center and periphery based upon white European knowledge. In Christian theology more specifically, syncretism's use also shows ways that theologians try to protect the category of divine revelation from human interference, leading to interpretative problems that sidestep material history"--
Download or read book Dialectics of Faith Culture Integration written by Michael Muonwe and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2014-02-21 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book navigates the contours of cultural and theological hermeneutics in order to critique, affirm, as well as reconceptualise the vital underpinnings and subtleties of faith-culture intercourse and reciprocation. It questions claims to effective inculturation by theologians and church authorities, even as it acknowledges the inevitability of the tension between inculturation process and syncretic formations. It is an irresistible asset for teachers and students of theology, cultural and religious studies, for pastors and missionaries, and for all Christians in need of finding Christian beliefs and practices more meaningful to them in their daily lives. The hope is that it challenges the straitjacketed conceptual and pastoral frameworks that have often characterised the churchs evangelisation initiatives, and assists in making Christian faith a concrete and living possession of every age and culture. Michael Muonwe is a priest of the Catholic diocese of Awka, Nigeria. He holds Licentiate and Doctorate in Theology and Religious Studies from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He obtained Bachelors in Philosophy from Bigard Memorial Seminary Enugu, Nigeria. Michael also holds Diplomas in Mass Communication and Education. He has authored a number of articles and is an editor of a book. His major research interest is the often-convoluted relationship and interplay between religion and the contemporary culture. His research on the relationship between Christianity, feminism and culture will soon be published in two volumes. On the present book, Prof. Annemie Dillen of the Catholic University of Leuven affirms: This is a must-read book for local church leaders, theologians and everyone involved in pastoral work. It challenges the reader to give up a longing for security and finding answers in fixed rules or the so-called universal truths, and invites him or her to an in-depth study of cultural practices and beliefs. The overview of the discussions on inculturation and the reality or sometime maybe phantom of syncretism is very illuminating and thought-provoking. Thomas F. Magill asserts: A timely and well-balanced study of the theology of inculturation as understood in the Roman Catholic tradition, offering new and fresh insights, situated in the cusp between the Benedict XVI's emphasis on the relationship between faith and reason and the problem of relativism and Francis I's desire for a poor church for the poor. (T.F. Magill, L.S.S., Ph.D, parish priest of the Diocese of Motherwell, formerly a Lecturer in New Testament Studies at the University of Glasgow).
Download or read book Biblical Christianity in Africa written by Byang H. Kato and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Religiosity in African Christian Churches written by C. Mutale and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2022-04-22 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book Tresphor Mutale critically examines contemporary African Christianity through the leadership from prophets, men of God, pastors, seers and more. The book looks at the rationality of apparently irrational religious expressions and experiences in the name of religion. It analyses the irrationalities using the spectacles of African Traditional Religions (ATR), especially with respect to the importance of rituals. From the vantage point of rituals, there is sense in nonsense, and some of the irrational religious expressions being experienced today become rational. The book raises the aspect of authority of ritual leadership in ATR and how this symbol holds authority in Christianity today and how it has power to influence believers. Mutale argues that African Christianity and how it is experienced today point to the deeper influence of African Traditional Religions. The book provokes many questions about the power of African symbolisms, their application in Christianity and how Christianity through the lenses of African Traditional Religions is able to relate and influence other areas of society like, economics, politics and sociality. The book draws on and enriches perspectives on religion and religiosity with the depth of Mutale's ability to bring into conversation anthropological, philosophical, sociological and theological approaches.
Download or read book West African Christianity written by Lamin Sanneh and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2015-03-24 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book African Traditional Religion in the Light of the Bible written by Richard J. Gehman and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Historical Study of African Religion written by Terence O. Ranger and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1976 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Christianity in Africa written by Kwame Bediako and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 1995 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The aim of this book is to teach you to understand and speak Welsh as it is spoken today. In order to achieve this, the language introduced is centred on a wide range of realistic, everyday situations. The course covers the four basic skills - listening and speaking, reading and writing, with recorded material to accompany your work and provide you with the essential opportunity to listen to native speakers and speak it yourself. Key structures and vocabulary are introduced in 21 thematic units preceded by an alphabet and pronunciation guide, a mutation chart for quick reference and a map of Wales.
Download or read book Black Christians and White Missionaries written by Richard Gray and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2005-07-01 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, one of the world's leading scholars on the history of religion in Africa shows how Christianity has been transformed as it has been adopted by black Africans, from the introduction of Christianity in the seventeenth century to the present. Richard Gray finds that Africans have not meekly accepted monolithic Western practices and interpretations but have appropriated Christian faith for specific needs and added to it insights of their own. "Gray's theological conclusions are fascinating, and the book forms a useful contribution to the study of missions in Africa."-Eugeniah Adoyo, Theological Book Review "Gray's most significant contribution is his essay that compares differing concepts of evil in the cosmologies of Christianity and traditional African religions. This compact, well-written volume has extensive footnotes. It is recommended for specialists, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates."-Choice "A thoughtful and informative book, well worth reading."-Joseph C. McKenna, Theological Studies "Concrete and detailed cases support Gray's lucid account of this transformation in Africa."-Wyatt MacGaffey, American Historical Review "The work of a master historian and demonstrates archival detective work and scholarly analysis at its finest. Anyone interested in the introduction and development of Christianity in Africa will find this book particularly valuable."-Roger B. Beck, History: Reviews of New Books "Christianity in Africa has too often been written about by those who recognize only its sociological consequences. Gray . . . writes . . . with insights that are not found often enough in studies of black Christians and white (and black) missionaries in Africa, and this is welcome."-M. Louise Pirouet, International Journal of the African Historical Society
Download or read book Constructing Local Theologies written by Robert J. Schreiter and published by Orbis Books. This book was released on 2015-09-15 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the thirty years since Constructing Local Theologies first appeared, it has been the basic handbook for anyone interested in understanding the theological implications of cultural pluralism. While the themes of inculturation and contextualization have been increasingly familiar, the insights of this groundbreaking work remain startlingly fresh and original. The proliferation of local theologies and the emergence of voices from the margins continue to challenge traditional assumptions that the theology of the dominant culture is universal and undetermined by context.
Download or read book Routledge Companion to Christianity in Africa written by Elias Kifon Bongmba and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-12-22 with total page 578 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Companion to Christianity in Africa offers a multi-disciplinary analysis of the Christian tradition across the African continent and throughout a long historical span. The volume offers historical and thematic essays tracing the introduction of Christianity in Africa, as well as its growth, developments, and effects, including the lived experience of African Christians. Individual chapters address the themes of Christianity and gender, the development of African-initiated churches, the growth of Pentecostalism, and the influence of Christianity on issues of sexuality, music, and public health. This comprehensive volume will serve as a valuable overview and reference work for students and researchers worldwide.
Download or read book Understanding Religious Change in Africa and Europe Crossing Latitudes written by Nathan Irmiya Elawa and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-04-15 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines and compares the religious experience of an African group with a European one. It offers an ethnographical investigation of the Jukun of north central Nigeria. The author also organically weaves into the narrative the Christianization of the Irish in a comparative fashion. Throughout, he makes the case for an African Christianity connected to a Celtic Irish Christianity and vice-versa -- as different threads in a tapestry. This work is a product of a synthesis of archival research in three continents, interviews with surviving first-generation Christians who were active practitioners of the Jukun indigenous religion, and with former missionaries to the Jukun. On the Irish side, it draws from extant primary sources and interviews with scholars in Celtic Irish studies. In addition, pictures, diagrams, and excerpts from British colonial and missionary journals provide a rich contextual understanding of Jukun religious life and practices. The author is among the emerging voices in the study of World Christianity who advocate for the reality of "poly-centres" for Christianity. This perspective recognizes voices from the Global South in the expansion of Christianity. This book serves as a valuable resource for historians, anthropologists, theologians, and those interested in missions studies, both scholars and lay readers seeking to deepen their understanding of World Christianity.
