African Traditional Religion and Christianity

Published on
01 May 2006

Archbishop Buti Tlhagale, Bishop of the Diocese of Johannesburg, wrote a special report in the February/March issue of 'Worldwide' magazine on the impact of the Gospel on African traditional religion in southern Africa. We reproduce the beginning of that article here.
A 'subversive' impact
"The teaching and meaning of Christianity has been proclaimed over 2000 years. Christianity in southern Africa is about 150 years old. In spite of the difficult encounter between the indigenous people and the missionaries, the former eventually yielded to the 'subversive' impact of the Christian message. The people too heard the gospel intended for the whole creation (Mk 16:15). They shared in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and experienced the flames of Pentecost. Their hearts caught fire as they were being repeatedly pounded with God's Word in season and out of season. Jesus Christ was proclaimed as the 'way, the truth and the life', the true light that enlightens everyone (Jn 1:9), including the African people.

Adoration for God
"This new truth began to upset the conventional wisdom about people's origin and their destiny. The place and role of the ancestors was to be affected profoundly. The ultimate object of loyalty and adoration was to be God and no longer the ancestors. This position is acceptable in theory, but in practice, the role, the influence and the impact of the ancestors among the living, appear to have been slightly dented. The turnabout has not been as radical as would have been expected.

To know the truth is to be free
"The Gospel message reveals the aspiration of the human heart, which is to respond to the call of God who is the origin and goal of human beings. The Gospel says, 'you will know the truth and the truth will make you free' (Jn8:32). Knowing the truth about God sheds light on who the ancestors are and also reveals the truth about human beings who are God's creatures. The truth frees the superstitious mind from the spell cast by roaming spirits. The truth rips apart the veil of mystery that shrouds the ancestors and reveals God as the father of both the living and the dead. God is revealed as the decisive reference point and not the ancestors.

A new context of faith
In this new context of faith, the living no longer aspire to be merely incorporated into the community of the ancestors upon death, they now live in the hope of being reunited with God who gave them the original breath of life. There is also a new awareness that the ancestors are in fact not imprisoned in a vaguely defined world of spirits, but that they too are on the threshold of being redeemed.

Recasting of power relations
"The truth about God has the force of recasting the power relations between the living and the ancestors. The latter are inevitably cast down from their near-idol status. The living are offered the freedom of the children of God, free from the inordinate fear of the world of the ancestors and free from the evil spirits that roam about in villages and in the cities.

Considering sangomas
The article further considers who sangomas are and whether they should receive the holy Eucharist, their relationship with the ancestors, and the shift in mentality and change of perception which Christianity brings. Abp Buti writes that Christians feel ill at ease because they belong to both the traditional and Christian worlds and that the two have not yet come together in harmony.

Confronting the mystery of evil
He writes that ancestor veneration is more than a simple 'ritualization of filial piety'.
"It is the African way of confronting and living with the mystery of evil and suffering. It is how Africans celebrate and communicate with the mystery of the sacred in their midst. It is a ritual performed to revitalize nature, to celebrate new life or to absorb the pain of the dissolution of life. Finally it is a ritual recognition of the existence of a spiritual world or spiritual reality. It is an acknowledgement that the intensity of power lies beyond the living and beyond nature."

The Eucharist
The article discusses Zionist prophets, disease, medicine, healing in African and Christian tradition and finally, the truth about the Eucharist.

Contributed by Site Administrator