what is the concept of god in african traditional religion
The Concept of Health and Wholeness in Traditional African Religion and Social Medicine Onah Gregory Ajima* and Eyong Usang Ubana Department of Religious Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar CRS, Nigeria Abstract African Traditional Religion and medicine are integral parts of life and culture of the Africans and have greatly The concept of diseases and health care in African traditional religion in Ghana As human beings we sometimes in one way or another become sick, and therefore go for treatment depending on our choice of treatment (religious perspective or Western medical treatment). The three main religious traditions—African traditional religion, Christianity, and Islam—constitute the triple religious heritage of the African continent. Africa is a massive continent with diverse religious traditions, to the extent that within the same tradition there have been variations. God is experienced as an all-pervading reality. The prayers are usually short, extemporaneous, and succinct, and may be accompanied by sacrifices and offerings. An important preoccupation of Mbiti’s work has been to show that knowledge of God and the worship of God have been staples of African life from the earliest times on the continent. traditional African takes the character of critical reflection of the African understanding of reality and world view. Belief in a supreme being is universal among most of the over sixty peoples of Africa. African religions do not have sacred texts, but have symbolic language and written symbols. Monotheism’s insistence on the Some African religions adopted different views through the influence of Islam or even Hinduism. Oneness of God joined its moral vision with the traditional activities, which have opened the way to the triumph of the African traditional religious followers in their expectations of life and spiritual satisfactions. 'The Afri-can attitude to God is perhaps understood least' (Sawyer, 1970, p. ix). of God in any African Traditional Religion is asking for trouble, because the meaning of the English terms come with such a long his-tory, from the Latin, of theological baggage, that it is not at all natural to give space to the African meanings in their context. O ne scholar who has written extensively on African Traditional Religion is John Mbiti, a Kenyan whom many consider the dean of living African theologians. Traditional African religions involve teachings, practices, and rituals that lend structure to the African native societies. Although African traditional religion is not against a Western medical way of GOD: AFRICAN SUPREME BEINGS African supreme beings are spiritual beings or divinities who are as varied as the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the world's second largest continent after Asia. Traditional African religions generally believe in an afterlife, one or more Spirit worlds, and Ancestor worship is an important basic concept in mostly all African religions. More so, myths encode the traditional settings of the African and their belief system. Praying is the commonest form of worship among traditional African peoples. African peoples do not consider God to be a man, but in order to express certain concepts, they employ languages and images about God as an aid to their conceptualization of him whom they have not seen and about whom they confess to know little or nothing. He is the constant participant in the affairs of human beings. Adrinkra is the writing system in the Akan religion.It consists of pictorial symbolism created by the Ashanti craftsmen of Ghana. Myths, folklores proverbs therefore become the major sources of African philosophy (Jaja, 1995:28). ," John S. Mbiti says in African Religions and Philosophy. 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