African Religions and Philosophy

John Mbiti's volume, African Religions and Philosophy, is a classic in the study of African religiosity, as well as the field of religious studies. Published originally in 1969, the work is an attempt to discuss the theology and religious practices of sub-Saharan Africans. At the start, it must be noted that Mbiti himself is not only a scholar of religion, but is also himself a parish minister, thus he not only a scholar but also a practitioner as well. This book is often cited for its scathing deconstruction and refutation of racist anthropological work that had up to that point been the main systematic effort to `understand' African religiosity. No less than Molefi Asante, in his significant anthology of African Intellectual and Cultural History, excerpted most of Mbiti's first chapter, which contains his well-known critique.The goals of Mbiti's book are threefold: to refute previous racist scholarship, to highlight the continuity of African forms of religion with other forms of human religiosity, and to establish the diversity of African religion from other forms of religiosity.To accomplish these goals, Mbiti establishes two fundamental concepts in African religiosity: "God," and Time. The term God is not significantly explored at the outset, except as a stand-in for a "supreme Being" in terms largely familiar to Europeans and Americans. Time, on the other hand, is discussed as a facet of African linguistics. By analyzing verb tenses from different language groups, Mbiti claims that African forms of time are different than other human concepts of time, such as linear ones. Ultimately, Mbiti establishes two kinds of Time- Sasa, and Zamani (Swahili). Sasa is understood as "small time," or time that is centrally located close to the present moment. Zamani, in contrast, is "Macro-Time," or time that takes place distantly from the present moment. This all stands in contrast to notions of time familiar to Europeans and Americans, such as past, present and future. By marking out two distinct areas, God and Time, Mbiti sets the stage for an analysis of religion in terms of ontology (or metaphysics) and human experience. Along with Mbiti's assertion of Africans as totally culturally enveloped in religion, this also sets the stage for extensive cultural analysis.In the next few chapters, Mbiti then presents a theological discussion in terms that would be familiar to any Western scholar of religion. He analyses categories such as the "Nature" of God, the "Works" of God, God's relationship to the natural world, God's manifestations in ritual, and the existence of "Spirits" or lesser divinities. In each case, Mbiti's goal is primarily to illustrate that the "God" of the Africans is the same as elsewhere, although the African's experience of "God" is unique, and to some degree conditioned by different tribal influences.After this discussion, Mbiti then discusses the African view of "man." This is because a theological anthropology (or a 'cosmic' view of

Mbiti expounds several key themes of importance to a new or experienced student of African Religion and society. Particularly, Mbiti concisely explains the interwoven nature that exists between the various religions of different African people and everyday life.I highly recommend this work to any person interested in learning more about the role of religion in Africa.