African Religion Defined

Author : Anthony Ephirim-Donkor
Publisher : University Press of America
Page : 160 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2012-07-10
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780761853299

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African Religion Defined by Anthony Ephirim-Donkor Pdf

African religion is ancestor worship; that is, funeral preparations, burial of the dead with ceremony and pomp, belief in eternal existence of souls of the dead as ancestors, periodic remembrance of ancestors, and belief that they influence the affairs of their living descendants. Whether called Akw?sidai, Homowo, Voodoo, Nyant?r (Aboakyir), CandomblZ, or Santeria in Africa or the African Diaspora, ancestor worship centers on the ancestors and deities. This makes it a tenably viable religion, because living descendants are genetically linked to their ancestors. The author, a traditional king and professor, studies the Akan in Ghana to demonstrate that ancestor worship is as pragmatic, systematic, theological, teleological, soteriological — with a highly trained clerical body and elders as mediators — and symbolic as any other religion in the world. Ancestor worship follows prescribed rites and rituals, formulas, precepts for ritual efficacy, and festivities of honor with music and dances to provoke ancestors and deities into joining in the celebration.

Author : E. Bọlaji Idowu
Publisher : London : S.C.M. Press
Page : 252 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 1973
Category : Religion
ISBN : UOM:39015020732569

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African Traditional Religion by E. Bọlaji Idowu Pdf

Author : E. Bọlaji Idowu
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 256 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 1973
Category : Religion
ISBN : UOM:39015001395857

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African Traditional Religion by E. Bọlaji Idowu Pdf

Author : E. Bọlaji Idowu
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 228 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 1973
Category : Africa
ISBN : 0334000319

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African Traditional Religion by E. Bọlaji Idowu Pdf

Author : Jacob K. Olupona
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 177 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2014
Category : History
ISBN : 9780199790586

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African Religions by Jacob K. Olupona Pdf

This book connects traditional religions to the thriving religious activity in Africa today.

Author : Molefi Kete Asante,Emeka Nwadiora
Publisher : University Press of America
Page : 174 pages
File Size : 50,9 Mb
Release : 2007
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0761835741

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Spear Masters by Molefi Kete Asante,Emeka Nwadiora Pdf

Spear Masters contends that in Africa there exists only one religion with a vast array of "denominations." African religion is expressed in a different way by each of the denominations, which creates confusion for those who believe that there are more than one African religion. Spear Masters presents information about some of the larger and most significant expressions of the sole African religion, so that the reader will understand the relationship between God the creator and the notions of the relationship with the family and community. The term "spear master" relates to the integrity and ethics that had to accompany the maker and user of the spear in ancient African societies. The essence of religion presented in Spear Masters is the deification of one's society and nation, and making sacred the traditions and rituals of the ordinary lives of the people.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 50 pages
File Size : 50,8 Mb
Release : 2024-06-15
Category : Africa
ISBN : OCLC:702568878

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African Traditional Religion by Anonim Pdf

Author : Anthony Ephirim-Donkor
Publisher : Lexington Books
Page : 210 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2015-12-17
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781498521239

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African Personality and Spirituality by Anthony Ephirim-Donkor Pdf

There is a divine pronouncement among the Akan that all human beings are children of God (Nana Nyame), none a child of the earth (mother); meaning that human beings are spiritual in origin, descending directly from God via the Abosom (gods and goddesses). Every person then has a deity as father (Ᾱgya-bosom), recognition of which existentially enables a person to fulfil one’s career or professional blueprint (Nkrabea). Intrinsically, therefore, human beings embody the very essence of the Abosom, which manifests itself behaviorally and psychologically in a manner identical to those of the gods and goddesses. African Personality and Spirituality: The Role of Abosom and Human Essence therefore addresses ultimate existential concerns of the Akan, revealing the essence of the primeval gods and goddesses and how they transform themselves into human beings, as well as the psychology of personality characteristic attributes, the phenomenon of spirit alightment, and other manifestations of the gods and goddesses, and the imperative of ethical existence and generativity (Ↄbra bᴐ) as basis of eternal life.

Author : Anthony Ephirim-Donkor
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 319 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2021-03-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780761872610

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African Spirituality by Anthony Ephirim-Donkor Pdf

Using the Akan in Ghana as a paradigmatic African representative group, African Spirituality: On Becoming Ancestors, Third Edition offers a unique African developmental praxis to eternal life immortality. Indeed, this way of life is predicated on the awareness and application of certain intrinsic values, which, if followed, lead to eternal life. As a way of living, African spirituality begins when an individual becomes morally and ethically responsible for one’s own actions while engaged on an ethical path (Ɔbra Bↄ) in pursuance of one’s unique career endeavor (Nkrabea). Though an individual quest, society is, however, the arbiter of one’s ethical and moral life, when society confers on the person adjudged a success the stage title of Nana. At old age, Ɔbra Bↄ ends as an active endeavor. However, as repositories of wisdom, senior elders continue to inculcate in succeeding generations the principles, art, and mastery of ideal life (Ɔbra pa). Then upon death, senior elders are transformed into deities, bequeathing to living descendants names worthy of evocation and worship. Indeed, this book is the first study of its kind to draw on the experiences of an entire people, their psychological dispositions and effects on the Akan during adulthood. Thus, this book brings a unique perspective to the study of spirituality, religion, developmental psychological theory, what it means to achieve perfection as an elder on earth, and upon death join the esteemed company of the Nananom Nsamanfo (Ancestors).

Author : Peter J. Paris
Publisher : Duke University Press
Page : 386 pages
File Size : 41,9 Mb
Release : 2009-11-25
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780822392309

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Religion and Poverty by Peter J. Paris Pdf

A Ghanaian scholar of religion argues that poverty is a particularly complex subject in traditional African cultures, where holistic worldviews unite life’s material and spiritual dimensions. A South African ethicist examines informal economies in Ghana, Jamaica, Kenya, and South Africa, looking at their ideological roots, social organization, and vulnerability to global capital. African American theologians offer ethnographic accounts of empowering religious rituals performed in churches in the United States, Jamaica, and South Africa. This important collection brings together these and other Pan-African perspectives on religion and poverty in Africa and the African diaspora. Contributors from Africa and North America explore poverty’s roots and effects, the ways that experiences and understandings of deprivation are shaped by religion, and the capacity and limitations of religion as a means of alleviating poverty. As part of a collaborative project, the contributors visited Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa, as well as Jamaica and the United States. In each location, they met with clergy, scholars, government representatives, and NGO workers, and they examined how religious groups and community organizations address poverty. Their essays complement one another. Some focus on poverty, some on religion, others on their intersection, and still others on social change. A Jamaican scholar of gender studies decries the feminization of poverty, while a Nigerian ethicist and lawyer argues that the protection of human rights must factor into efforts to overcome poverty. A church historian from Togo examines the idea of poverty as a moral virtue and its repercussions in Africa, and a Tanzanian theologian and priest analyzes ujamaa, an African philosophy of community and social change. Taken together, the volume’s essays create a discourse of mutual understanding across linguistic, religious, ethnic, and national boundaries. Contributors. Elizabeth Amoah, Kossi A. Ayedze, Barbara Bailey, Katie G. Cannon, Noel Erskine, Dwight N. Hopkins, Simeon O. Ilesanmi, Laurenti Magesa, Madipoane Masenya, Takatso A. Mofokeng, Esther M. Mombo, Nyambura J. Njoroge, Jacob Olupona, Peter J. Paris, Anthony B. Pinn, Linda E. Thomas, Lewin L. Williams

Author : Carolyn M. Jones Medine,Ibigbolade S. Aderibigbe,Hans D Seibel
Publisher : Springer
Page : 285 pages
File Size : 46,6 Mb
Release : 2015-10-14
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781137498052

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Contemporary Perspectives on Religions in Africa and the African Diaspora by Carolyn M. Jones Medine,Ibigbolade S. Aderibigbe,Hans D Seibel Pdf

Contemporary Perspectives on Religions in Africa and the African Diaspora explores African derived religions in a globalized world. The volume focuses on the continent, on African identity in globalization, and on African religion in cultural change.

Author : John S. Mbiti
Publisher : Waveland Press
Page : 215 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2015-01-14
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781478628927

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Introduction to African Religion by John S. Mbiti Pdf

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.

Author : John S. Mbiti
Publisher : Heinemann
Page : 312 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 1990
Category : Philosophy
ISBN : 0435895915

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African Religions & Philosophy by John S. Mbiti Pdf

"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.

Author : David Chidester
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Page : 275 pages
File Size : 51,5 Mb
Release : 2012-04-23
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780520951570

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Wild Religion by David Chidester Pdf

Wild Religion is a wild ride through recent South African history from the advent of democracy in 1994 to the euphoria of the football World Cup in 2010. In the context of South Africa’s political journey and religious diversity, David Chidester explores African indigenous religious heritage with a difference. As the spiritual dimension of an African Renaissance, indigenous religion has been recovered in South Africa as a national resource. Wild Religion analyzes indigenous rituals of purification on Robben Island, rituals of healing and reconciliation at the new national shrine, Freedom Park, and rituals of animal sacrifice at the World Cup. Not always in the national interest, indigenous religion also appears in the wild religious creativity of prison gangs, the global spirituality of neo-shamans, the ceremonial display of Zulu virgins, the ancient Egyptian theosophy in South Africa’s Parliament, and the new traditionalism of South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma. Arguing that the sacred is produced through the religious work of intensive interpretation, formal ritualization, and intense contestation, Chidester develops innovative insights for understanding the meaning and power of religion in a changing society. For anyone interested in religion, Wild Religion uncovers surprising dynamics of sacred space, violence, fundamentalism, heritage, media, sex, sovereignty, and the political economy of the sacred.

Author : Anthony Ephirim-Donkor
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 267 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2016-11-15
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9780761868453

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African Religion Defined by Anthony Ephirim-Donkor Pdf

This edition updates the scholarship on ancestor worship—with the addition of three new chapters. Beginning with Akan theology and ending with sacrifices, the study examines Akan conception of God, the abosom (gods and goddesses) relative to creation, centrality of the ancestors’ stool as the ultimate religious symbol housing the soul of the Akan, and organized annual propitiatory festivities carried out among the Akan in honor of the ancestors (Nananom Nsamanfo) and abosom. The book, therefore, serves as an invaluable resource for those interested in the phenomenon of African religion, because it provides real insight into ancestor worship in ways that are meaningful, practical, systematic, and as a way of life by an Akan Traditional ruler (Ↄdikro) and a professor of Africana studies.