"In ancient times, God spoke in different ways to our ancestors and through the prophets": Existential and Ontological Possible Parallels between Yoruba Traditional Religion and the Christ Event
According to Paul, grace is a giftto all through the vicarious suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ (Rom. 5:15-16), grace that was extended to all even when humanity was dead in sin. This provides a framework for a theological reexamination of black Africa's religious traditions. Borrow...
| Published in: | Journal of ecumenical studies |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Pennsylvania Press
2019
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| In: |
Journal of ecumenical studies
Year: 2019, Volume: 54, Issue: 4, Pages: 520-538 |
| RelBib Classification: | BB Indigenous religions CA Christianity |
| Further subjects: | B
African Traditional Religion (ATR)
B Ifa B Orunmila B Parallels B Jesus Christ B Yoruba Traditional Religion (YTR) B Ancestors B Yoruba religion B Divination B Olodumare B RITES & ceremonies B Deities B Christian missionaries B Cosmology B Cult B God |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | According to Paul, grace is a giftto all through the vicarious suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ (Rom. 5:15-16), grace that was extended to all even when humanity was dead in sin. This provides a framework for a theological reexamination of black Africa's religious traditions. Borrowing from traditional Yoruba religious cosmology, it is argued that pre-missionary religious practices are preparatio evangelium, sacred spaces mediating grace and the birthing of communitarian virtues. With parallels from within this tradition, examined with the Christ event, it is argued further that Christian missionary efforts often demonized traditional religions due to ignorance. The colonial assumption that cultural and religious rituals of Africa are "pagan and uncivilized" animism will be debunked. Parallels can be drawn between the story of Jesus and the religious narratives within and beyond Yoruba traditional cosmogony. This essay concludes that traditional religions of ethnic peoples were already sacred spaces mediating Christ's grace before the advent of the slave raiders, colonialists, or white missionaries. It challenges Euro-American perception and understanding of the religious traditions of Africa as sacred places of Christ's [End Page 520] grace, thereby creating grounds for an ecumenical handshake between Christianity and various African traditional religious belief systems. |
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| ISSN: | 2162-3937 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal of ecumenical studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1353/ecu.2019.0042 |