The Primal Vision

The Primal Vision
Author: John Vernon Taylor
Publisher: SCM Press
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2001
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780334028376

The Primal Vision is widely regarded as one of the most important books ever published on the subject of African Christianity. In a sympathetic and warmly empathetic style, John Taylor tellsof his encountrs with many different African people, and reflects theologically on the conversations he has shared with men, women and children in a wide variety of circumstances. By suggesting that the missionary should listen and learn from indigenous culture, and appreciate his status as a guest, the book points towards a revisionist understanding of Christian mission. John V. Taylor was Bishop of Winchester from 1975-85 and General Secretary of the Church Missionary Society from 1963 to 74. He died in 2001.

The Primal Vision

The Primal Vision
Author: John V (John Vernon) 1914-2 Taylor
Publisher: Hassell Street Press
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2021-09-09
Genre:
ISBN: 9781013790096

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

African Traditional Religion Encounters Christianity

African Traditional Religion Encounters Christianity
Author: John Chitakure
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2017-11-07
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532618549

Right from the beginning of humankind, God has never deprived a people of his grace and revelation. In fact, God uses people’s environment and culture to communicate his will. There is no single religion that can claim to have the exclusive possession of God’s revelation, for God is too immense to be confined within one faith. Hence, it was erroneous, blasphemous, and misleading for some of the early Christian missionaries to Africa to claim that they had brought God to Africa, a mentality that implied the non-existence of God in Africa before their arrival. Of course, God was already in Africa, but the missionaries either failed to discern his presence or just disregarded the traces of his existence. This book explores the religious beliefs, practices, and values of the indigenous people of Africa at the time of the early missionaries’ arrival, with particular reference to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. It also evaluates the extent of the missionarie’s successes and challenges in converting Africans to Christianity. It finally surveys how African Christians have remained attached to the indigenous religious beliefs that used to provide answers to their existential questions.

Towards a Christian Theology of African Ancestors

Towards a Christian Theology of African Ancestors
Author: Thomas Ochieng Otanga
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2023-04-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1666727350

This book examines the similarities and relationship between Christian saints and African ancestors. Further, it analyzes the deep cultural roots of African peoples and the ancestral frame as a point of departure for developing an indigenous African theology. Questions dealt with include: Does the conversion of Africans to Christianity require a break with their African cultural heritage? Who is an African ancestor? Is syncretism a good thing for an African Christian? What contribution can the African church make to the universal church? The author argues that rather than being antithetical to formal Christianity, an African Christian theology of ancestors is an example of how an indigenous African tradition can best express Christianity as well as make considerable impact on world Christianity.

Traditionalists, Muslims, and Christians in Africa

Traditionalists, Muslims, and Christians in Africa
Author: Prince Sorie Conteh
Publisher: Cambria Press
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN: 1604975962

As is the case for most of sub-Saharan Africa, African Traditional Religion (ATR) is the indigenous religion of Sierra Leone. When the early forebears and later progenitors of Islam and Christianity arrived, they met Sierra Leone indigenes with a remarkable knowledge of God and a structured religious system. Successive Muslim clerics, traders, and missionaries were respectful of and sensitive to the culture and religion of the indigenes who accommodated them and offered them hospitality. This approach resulted in a syncretistic brand of Islam. In contrast, most Christian missionaries adopted an exclusive and insensitive approach to African culture and religiosity. Christianity, especially Protestantism, demanded a complete abandonment of African culture and religion, and a total dedication to Christianity. This attitude is continued by some indigenous clerics and religious leaders to such an extent that Sierra Leone Indigenous Religion (SLIR) and its practitioners continue to be marginalised in Sierra Leone's interreligious dialogue and cooperation. Although the indigenes of Sierra Leone were and continue to be hospitable to Islam and Christianity, and in spite of the fact that SLIR shares affinity with Islam and Christianity in many theological and practical issues, and even though there are many Muslims and Christians who still hold on to traditional spirituality and culture, Muslim and Christian leaders of these immigrant religions are reluctant to include Traditionalists in interfaith issues in the country. The formation and constitution of the Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL), which has local and international recognition, did not include ATR. These considerations, then, beg the following questions: - Why have Muslim and Christian leaders long marginalized ATR, its practices, and practitioners from interfaith dialogue and cooperation in Sierra Leone? - What is lacking in ATR that continues to prevent practitioners of Christianity and Islam from officially involving Traditionalists in the socioreligious development of the country? This book investigates the reasons for the exclusion of ATR from interreligious dialogue/cooperation and ATR's relevance and place in the socioreligious landscape of Sierra Leone and the rest of the world. It also discusses possible ways for ATR's inclusion in the ongoing interfaith dialogue and cooperation in the country; this is important because people living side by side meet and interact personally and communally on a regular basis. As such, they share common resources; communal benefits; and the joys, crises, and sorrows of life. The social and cultural interaction and cooperation involved in this dialogue of life are what compel people to fully understand the worldviews of their neighbours and to seek out better relationships with them. Most of the extant books and courses about interreligious encounters and dialogue deal primarily with the interaction between two or more of the major world religions: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. This book fills a gap in the study of interreligious dialogue in Africa by taking into consideration the place and relevance of ATR in interreligious dialogue and cooperation in Sierra Leone. It provides the reader with basic knowledge of ATR, Islam, and Christianity in their Sierra Leonean contexts, and of interfaith encounters and dialogue among the three major faith traditions in Africa. As such, it provides for the first time a historical, chronological, and comparative study of interreligious encounters and dialogue among Traditionalists, Muslims, and Christians in Sierra Leone. Traditionalists, Muslims, and Christians in Africa is an important reference for scholars, researchers, religious leaders, missionaries, and all who are interested in interfaith cooperation and dialogue, especially among all three of Africa's major living religions-ATR, Islam, and Christianity.

Primal Spirituality of Indigenous Songs in African Christianity. A Theological and Ethical Analysis of Some Selected Lyrics of Agbadza and Bobobo Music

Primal Spirituality of Indigenous Songs in African Christianity. A Theological and Ethical Analysis of Some Selected Lyrics of Agbadza and Bobobo Music
Author: Ron Macaulay
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2024-07-24
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3389051732

Doctoral Thesis / Dissertation from the year 2024 in the subject Didactics - Theology, Religion Pedagogy, grade: 3.95 (A), University of Ghana, Legon (Selinus University of Sciences and Literature), course: Theology and Ethics, language: English, abstract: Africans have the capability to express their primal knowledge to enrich their Christian faith. Their primal spiritual knowledge is expressed through oral means such as singing accompanied by drumming and dancing. The expression of their primal spirituality helps them to present their spirit, soul and body wholly to God. This primal condition of being spiritual is the personal quality prior to any other religious beliefs, such as Christianity. Therefore, African Christianity is how to live the Christian faith and worship God within the African way of life, and not necessarily syncretising different systems of religious beliefs, but the expression of the soundness of Africanness. Hence, the thesis has been grounded in The Concept of Africanness in African Christianity, which is how Christianity would communicate with African cultural heritage. A distinct way of expressing Africanness can be noticed when Agbadza and Bᴐbᴐbᴐ music and the lyrics that are akin to Scripture are engaged in some African churches to worship God. This primal expression is functionally identical in the Apostles Revelation Society, and some branches of the Global Evangelical Church (hereinafter called the ARS and GEC, respectively). Nevertheless, while Agbadza is culturally considered as war music among the Anlo-EƲe, Bᴐbᴐbᴐ music among the EƲedome is also seen as immoral and frown upon. Notwithstanding these mixed feelings towards Agbadza and Bᴐbᴐbᴐ cultural music, majority of Christians get exceedingly excited about the engagements between these cultural music and Christian faith in their churches. The main objectives of the study are to find out why they get excited when these cultural music are being engaged in the churches, and the war and immoral nature of these music. In addition, the theological and ethical thoughts on some selected lyrics are considered. Finally, what would the ARS and GEC do differently to lay bare the impact these cultural music should have on their communities, which guarantee their future and sustainability in the churches. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, theological, ethical, and phenomenological methods are blended as qualitative technique has been adopted in data collection and analysis. The reason why the worshippers get excited about these cultural music had been explored, and the theological and ethical thoughts on the practice were examined.