Introduction to African Religion

Introduction to African Religion
Author: John S. Mbiti
Publisher: Waveland Press
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2015-01-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1478628928

In his widely acclaimed survey, John Mbiti sheds light on the survival and prosperity of African Religion in different historical, geographical, sociological, cultural, and physical environments. He presents a constellation of African worldviews, beliefs in God, use of symbols, valued traditions, and practices that have taken root with African peoples throughout the vast continent. Mbiti’s accessible writing style sympathetically portrays how African Religion manifests itself in ritual, festival, healing, the human life cycle, and interplay with the mystical and invisible world. The account embraces foundational traditions, while touching on elements that spawn transitions, including migration, the spread of Christianity and Islam, political-economic development, and modern communication. This popular introduction leaves readers with informed knowledge of the riches of African heritage.

African Religions & Philosophy

African Religions & Philosophy
Author: John S. Mbiti
Publisher: Heinemann
Total Pages: 312
Release: 1990
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780435895914

"African Religions and Philosophy" is a systematic study of the attitudes of mind and belief that have evolved in the many societies of Africa. In this second edition, Dr Mbiti has updated his material to include the involvement of women in religion, and the potential unity to be found in what was once thought to be a mass of quite separate religions. Mbiti adds a new dimension to the understanding of the history, thinking, and life throughout the African continent. Religion is approached from an African point of view but is as accessible to readers who belong to non-African societies as it is to those who have grown up in African nations. Since its first publication, this book has become acknowledged as the standard work in the field of study, and it is essential reading for anyone concerned with African religion, history, philosophy, anthropology or general African studies.

Elements of African Traditional Religion

Elements of African Traditional Religion
Author: Elia Shabani Mligo
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 102
Release: 2013-08-02
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1621898245

African Traditional religion (ATR) is one of the world religions with a great people and a great past. It is embraced by Africans within and outside the continent despite the various ethnic religious practices and beliefs. This book highlights and discusses the common elements which introduce African Traditional Religion as one unified religion and not a collection of religions. The major focus of the book is discussing the need for studying ATR in twenty-first-century Africa whereby globalization and multi-culture are prominent phenomena. Why should we study the religion of indigenous Africans in this age? In response to this question, the book argues that since ATR is part of the African people's culture, there is a need to understand this cultural background in order to contextualize Christian theology. Using some illustrations from Nyumbanitu worship shrine located at Njombe in Tanzania, the book purports that there is a need to understand African people's worldview, their understanding of God, their religious values, symbols and rituals in order to enhance meaningful dialogue between Christianity and African people's current worldview. In this case, the book is important for students of comparative religion in universities and colleges who strive to understand the various religions and their practices.

Encyclopedia of African Religion

Encyclopedia of African Religion
Author: Molefi Kete Asante
Publisher: SAGE
Total Pages: 473
Release: 2009
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1412936365

Collects almost five hundred entries that cover the African response to spirituality, taboos, ethics, sacred space, and objects.

African Traditional Religion in the Modern World, 2d ed.

African Traditional Religion in the Modern World, 2d ed.
Author: Douglas E. Thomas
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2015-05-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1476620199

African traditional religion encompasses a variety of non-dogmatic, spiritual practices followed by millions around the world. Some scholars argue it is related to the Nubian religion of Egypt's Dynastic Period. In an expanded second edition, this book examines the nature of African traditional religion and describes common attributes of various cultural belief systems, with an emphasis on West Africa. Principal elements studied include sacrifice, salvation and culture, modes of revelation, divination, and African resilience in the face of invasion and colonization. The religious experiences of black people throughout the Americas are also covered. The author finds the cosmology, symbolism and rituals of the Yoruba culture to be the fundamental bases of African traditional religion, and draws similarities between the oral and written literature of West Africans and that of New World practitioners. The influence of Islam and Christianity is also discussed. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Bendi

Bendi
Author: Ikechukwu Nwako
Publisher:
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2020-05-17
Genre:
ISBN: 9789785667479

Bendi is how the Igbo people of Nigeria live and practice African religion and culture which are beliefs, practices and institutions as invented by African ancestors.The trust of the work is that creation and revelation started in the Eastern region of Africa. At creation, the Almighty Creator made all species and put in them inclusive genes which have the potential for varieties.At the place of creation, the Almighty Creator revealed Himself to the people of the earth. The Great Crack occurred and the earth disintegrated and drifted apart. Human beings identified themselves along with their kinds and migrated along that line carrying with them the revelation experience which all shared and practised.Other issues discussed are general information about the religion and culture; etymologies; customs and traditions; one thousand proverbs; explanation of words, terms, and their religious significance; songs and illustrations in appendixes.The author is inviting Africans within the Continent and outside it, including the aborigines (natives), and others to embrace and practice the religion and culture of the Ancestors using Bendi as a guide.Read up more on www.ikenwako.com

Re-Inventing Africa

Re-Inventing Africa
Author: Ifi Amadiume
Publisher: Zed Books
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1997-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781856495349

This book reveals how conventional anthropology has consistently imposed European ideas of the "natural" nuclear family, women as passive object, and class differences on a continent with a long history of women with power doing things differently. Amadiume argues for an end to anthropology and calls instead for a social history of Africa, by Africans.

The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion

The African Diaspora and the Study of Religion
Author: T. Trost
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2007-12-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0230609937

This book focuses on the location of the religious heritage of Africa within the academic study of religion - including indigenous African religions, African Christianities, African/American forms of Islam, the religions of African Americans, Afro-Caribbean religions, and Afro-Brazilian religions.

The Palgrave Handbook of African Traditional Religion

The Palgrave Handbook of African Traditional Religion
Author: Ibigbolade S. Aderibigbe
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 639
Release: 2022-05-20
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3030895009

The Palgrave Handbook of African Traditional Religion interrogates and presents robust and comprehensive contributions from interdisciplinary experts and scholars. Offering a range of perspectives and opinions through the prism of understanding the past about African Traditional religions and, more importantly, capturing their dynamics in the present and projecting their sustainability and relevance for the future, this volume is an essential resource for knowledge and understanding of African Traditional religions in the global space of religious traditions.