As discussed in the previous post, I wanted to take some time to process the book I am reading right now, and to help those interested in what we are doing to understand what the realities are of ministering in the African context. The reason why this is so important to understand is because for years missionaries have gone to Africa and dismissed the realities of the African and as a result, many who “covert” to Christianity end up returning to their former African traditional religion to make up for the ‘gaps’ in Christianity. But what are these gaps that have gone unfilled for the African? What are the things that make the African worldview so unique? In this post we will discover more of the gaps, and in the coming ones, we will look into how the Christian message enters into these dark places and fills them with the light of Christ.
When considering what is most valuable to Africans, there are 3 main pieces to the pie, and a hardened crust around it that keeps it all together. The three main pieces are 1) The Self, 2) The Community, and 3) The Invisible World, and these are all encapsulated in the necessary presence of harmony amongst all three. For if there is a disruption of this harmony, then that is when things begin to fall apart. However, I want to talk about these three main pieces, so you get a better understanding of what they actually are.
The Self
When one comes to understand African Religions, they come to realize the complex view they have of humanity. What it means for them to be human is the idea of a “multiple self”. Most African religions see themselves made up of a physical element that ceases and another physical element that continues on forever, a spiritual element which is related to their ancestors and connects them to the divinity of the clan, then there is a divine element where the god himself is a part of the self that returns to the god at death, and then there is a destiny element which is lost at birth but remains with them. Now these all vary per religion, but this just goes to show the complexity of their view of humanity.
So for them, the World View question, “what happens when we die?”, takes on a whole new meaning. So while death does entail the end of earthly existence, it does not mean the death of the individual but merely the splitting of the multiple self. So for them, death, although still a negative reality, is understood in some sense as a “journey home”. Mortality only came into play because of some human fault or unhappy rupture of contact with god (the root of this varies for each ethnic group). Thus, when talking about what it means to be human, it means to discuss a lot more than what we typically think of, as it entails a host of other elements.
The Community
A correct understanding of community maybe the hardest to get our minds around, even for those of us who are seeking to live communal lives in the church. Because as Westerners we have been raised up with the famous line, “I think, therefore I am.” So I is the center of everything: my world, my thinking, my life, etc. However, for the African, there is a well known proverb that goes like this, “We are, therefore I am”. The phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child” is not something parents say to get help like here in America, rather it is a basic assumption and actually a shame if you don’t let people come around you and be apart of the child rearing process, it is a communal effort. However, it is ALL of life, not just select portions.
Thus, isolation from the community is one of the greatest evils ever, and is actually understood as a perversion of humanity and its proper nature. CRAZY!! There are multiple layers of community, as there is the nuclear family that consists of multiple families living in the same compound or homestead (as seen in the picture above), then there is the clan which entails certain obligations, and finally there is the ancestors, who although dead and separated physically, still have an active role within the life of the community. Out of this flows a ton of cultural realities such as initiation rites, vows, marriage expectations, etc. But it all is understood within the whole of the communal reality in which they live and think out of.
The Invisible World
The invisible and visible worlds, for the African, are not seen as two separate spheres but as different dimensions of a single indivisible reality, which act and react upon one another. Thus, it brings us right to a big discussion on a Supreme Being, because for Africans, this Being is remote and distant and very rarely intervenes in the history of people. So to classify African religions as monotheism (one God) may be an unhelpful categorization. However, people do come before spiritual beings in order to secure some practical benefit from them. Thus, relationships with the physical world are mediated by spiritual beings, and it is through them that harmony is sought and maintained within their natural environment.
Thus, there is a deep connection to ancestors, but to call it “worship” would be not quite correct, although, their respect and veneration for the Ancestors is definitely present. For it is through these ancestors that sacrifices are made to the Supreme Being. So many have come to understand African religions to be at the core monotheistic, but the way they worship makes it come off as polytheism. Thus, the Supreme Being is the Creator and was active at the time of creation (as demonstrated in this picture of the God, Olodumare), but has decided to share governance of the world with lesser spiritual beings, and thus the nearness of the Supreme god is mediated through these various lesser spiritual divinities to bring about implications for the physical world. However, in it all, this is one indivisible reality, because of the effects that take place in the physical World.
Rupture and Restoration of Harmony
Where these above three fall and stand is in whether or not harmony exists amongst these three pieces of the pie. There is a fragile equilibrium that must be sustained, and if a misfortune arises it is an indication that this equilibrium has been disrupted. For Africans, nothing comes about without divine or human ill-will. Something happens because somewhere, somehow, and sometime you have failed to do or do incorrectly, some prayer or sacrifice. Thus, they understand “sin” as an offence committed by an individual that has spiritual consequences for the group as a whole. Thus, sin is defined by reference to its results, and if no harmful consequences are entailed it is therefore probably inaccurate to speak in terms of “offence” or “sin”.
Thus, the only way to deal with this sin is by consulting the divinities by looking backwards at the cause of the problem, and forward to what remedies need to take place to restore the ruptured harmony. So while many Westerners ask “how” did something arise, the African seeks to understand “why” the situation has arisen. Thus, they are offering an explanation of a different type. So for example, it may be quite true that typhus is carried by lice, but who sent the infected house? Why did it bite one man and not another? These are the kinds of questions that the African asks because it is here where one realizes where the disruption came from and where the priests of the African system can find ways to resolve the matter by bring back the necessary restoration of harmony between the self, the community, and the invisible world.
