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African Christian Theology
by ZondervanChristian theology evolves out of questions that are asked in a particular situation about how the Bible speaks to that situation. This Zondervan ebook, African Christian Theology, is written to address questions that arise from the African context. It is intended to help students and others discover how theology affects our minds, our hearts, and our lives. As such, it speaks not only to Africans but to all who seek to understand and live out their faith in their own societies. The author understands both biblical theology and the African worldview and throws light on areas where they overlap, where they diverge, and why this matters. He explores traditional African understandings of God and how he reveals himself, the African understanding of sin and way the Bible sees sin, and how the work of Christ can be understood in African terms. The treatment of Christian living focuses on matters that are relevant to Christians in Africa and elsewhere, dealing with topics such as blessings and curses and the role of the church as a Christian community. The book concludes with a discussion of biblical thinking on death and the afterlife in which it also addresses the role traditionally ascribed to African ancestors.
African Christian Theology (Hippo Ser.)
by Samuel Waje KunhiyopChristian theology evolves out of questions that are asked in a particular situation about how the Bible speaks to that situation. This book, African Christian Theology, is written to address questions that arise from the African context. It is intended to help students and others discover how theology affects our minds, our hearts, and our lives. As such, it speaks not only to Africans but to all who seek to understand and live out their faith in their own societies. Samuel Kunyihop understands both biblical theology and the African worldview and throws light on areas where they overlap, where they diverge, and why this matters. He explores traditional African understandings of God and how he reveals himself, the African understanding of sin and way the Bible sees sin, and how the work of Christ can be understood in African terms. The treatment of Christian living focuses on matters that are relevant to Christians in Africa and elsewhere, dealing with topics such as blessings and curses and the role of the church as a Christian community. The book concludes with a discussion of biblical thinking on death and the afterlife in which it also addresses the role traditionally ascribed to African ancestors.
African Churches Ministering 'to and with' Persons with Disabilities: Perspectives from Zimbabwe (Routledge New Critical Thinking in Religion, Theology and Biblical Studies)
by Nomatter SandeThis book engages with Christian church traditions and disability issues in Africa, focusing on Zimbabwe in particular. It critically reflects on how the church has not done much to intentionally minister ‘to and with’ persons with disabilities. In the context of this volume, ‘ministering to’ is concerned with creating worshipping space for persons with disabilities; while ‘ministering with’ is connecting and identifying with persons with disabilities to meet their needs from the material life of the church. The author considers a stewardship model of disability as an appropriate ministerial response to transform lives in poverty-stricken postcolonial contexts. The argument put forth is that the church is a living organism endowed with spiritual and material resources, and that these resources should be appropriated to marginalised stakeholders.
African Cowrie Shells Divination: History, Theory & Practice
by ZolrakDiscover the Cowrie Shells and Learn How to Read the Messages of Ifá and the Higher Spiritual PlanesDivination with cowrie shells is one of the oldest known spiritual practices in the world. Originated by the Yoruba people of West Africa, cowrie shell divination is a powerful technique for connecting to the wisdom of ancestors, spirits, and deities.This book shares the history of cowrie shell divination and shows you how to open the portals of spiritual communication with the shells and related divination systems, such as cola nuts and coconuts. Written by a long-time practitioner, African Cowrie Shells Divination provides the meaning of the sixteen shell combinations as well as tips and variations for readings based on the specific question being asked. Discover the powerful messages of the Orishas and the mystical divination techniques of Candomblé, Santería, and other traditions of the African diaspora. Explore the instructive stories known as patakkís and apply their guidance to your life.The cowrie shells are sacred magical tools. With the history, theories, and hands-on instructions in this guide, you will learn how the shells can be used to answer your most important questions and achieve your true destiny.
African Discourse in Islam, Oral Traditions, and Performance (African Studies)
by Abdul-Rasheed Na'AllahThrough an engaged analysis of writers such as Wole Soyinka, Ola Rotimi, Niyi Osundare, and Tanure Ojaide and of African traditional oral poets like Omoekee Amao Ilorin and Mamman Shata Katsina, Abdul-Rasheed Na'Allah develops an African indigenous discourse paradigm for interpreting and understanding literary and cultural materials. Na'Allah argues for the need for cultural diversity in critical theorizing in the twenty-first century. He highlights the critical issues facing scholars and students involved in criticism and translation of marginalized texts. By returning the African knowledge system back to its roots and placing it side by side with Western paradigms, Na'Allah has produced a text that will be required reading for scholars and students of African culture and literature. It is an important contribution to scholarship in the domain of mobility of African oral tradition, and on African literary, cultural and performance discourse.
African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa
by Michael A. GomezA groundbreaking history that puts early and medieval West Africa in a global contextPick up almost any book on early and medieval world history and empire, and where do you find West Africa? On the periphery. This pioneering book, the first on this period of the region’s history in a generation, tells a different story. Interweaving political and social history and drawing on a rich array of sources, including Arabic manuscripts, oral histories, and recent archaeological findings, Michael Gomez unveils a new vision of how categories of ethnicity, race, gender, and caste emerged in Africa and in global history more generally. Scholars have long held that such distinctions arose during the colonial period, but Gomez shows they developed much earlier.Focusing on the Savannah and Sahel region, Gomez traces the exchange of ideas and influences with North Africa and the Central Islamic Lands by way of merchants, scholars, and pilgrims. Islam’s growth in West Africa, in tandem with intensifying commerce that included slaves, resulted in a series of political experiments unique to the region, culminating in the rise of empire. A major preoccupation was the question of who could be legally enslaved, which together with other factors led to the construction of new ideas about ethnicity, race, gender, and caste—long before colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade.Telling a radically new story about early Africa in global history, African Dominion is set to be the standard work on the subject for many years to come.
African Goddess Initiation: Sacred Rituals for Self-Love, Prosperity, and Joy
by Abiola AbramsA sacred feminine initiation of self-love and soul care rituals, tools, and exercises.Spiritual teacher, intuitive coach, and award-winning author, Abiola Abrams invites you to activate African goddess magic to transmute your fears and limiting beliefs, so that you can create more happiness, abundance, and self-acceptance.Africa is a continent of 54+ countries, and her children are global. There is no one African spiritual tradition. Our ancestors who were trafficked in "The New World" hid the secrets of our orishas, abosom, lwas, álúsí, and god/desses behind saints, angels, and legendary characters. From South Africa to Egypt, Brazil to Haiti, Guyana to Louisiana, goddess wisdom still empowers us.Writes Abiola, "Spirit told me, "We choose who shows up." And if you are holding this book, then this sacred medicine is meant for you. In this book, you will meet ancient goddesses and divine feminine energy ancestors, legendary queens, and mystical spirits. As you complete their powerful rituals, and ascend through their temples, you will:. Awaken generational healing in the Temple of Ancestors;. Manifest your miracles in the Temple of Conjurers;. Release the struggle in the Temple of Warriors;. Embrace your dark goddess self in the Temple of Shadows;. Heal your primal wounds in the Temple of Lovers;. Liberate your voice in the Temple of Griots;. Open your third eye intuition in the Temple of Queens; and. Surrender, meditate, and rise in the Temple of High Priestesses.Welcome to your goddess circle!
African Immigrant Religions in America
by Regina Gemignani Jacob K. OluponaAfrican immigration to North America has been rapidly increasing. Yet, little has been written about this significant group of immigrants and the particular religious traditions that they are transplanting on our shores, as scholars continue largely to focus instead on immigrants from Europe and Asia.African Immigrant Religions in America focuses on new understandings and insights concerning the presence and relevance of African immigrant religious communities in the United States. It explores the profound significance of religion in the lives of immigrants and the relevance of these growing communities for U.S. social life. It describes key social and historical aspects of African immigrant religion in the U.S. and builds a conceptual framework for theory and analysis.The volume broadens our understandings of the ways in which new immigration is changing the face of Christianity in the U.S. and adds needed breadth to the study of the black church, incorporating the experiences of African immigrant religious communities in America.
African Muslims in Antebellum America: Transatlantic Stories and Spiritual Struggles
by Allan D. AustinA condensation and updating of his African Muslims in Antebellum America: A Sourcebook (1984), noted scholar of antebellum black writing and history Dr. Allan D. Austin explores, via portraits, documents, maps, and texts, the lives of 50 sub-Saharan non-peasant Muslim Africans caught in the slave trade between 1730 and 1860. Also includes five maps.
African Myths and Legends (World Books Myths and Legends)
by Philip ArdaghA collection of traditional tales from Africa, reflecting the cultures and religions from which the stories come.
African Pentecostalism from African Perspectives: Volume 1: Methods (Christianity and Renewal - Interdisciplinary Studies)
by Lovemore Togarasei Ezra Chitando Loreen MasenoAlthough African scholars have made a significant contribution to the study of African Pentecostalism, very few studies have reflected on their output. Most of the contemporary publications on the widespread phenomenon of African Pentecostalism create the impression that only scholars from the Global North have contributed to the field. This volume addresses the lacuna in the available scholarship by undertaking detailed analyses of how African scholars from diverse academic disciplines and African/Diasporan context have helped to shape the field. The included chapters provid fresh data on new themes and perspectives in the field.
African Pentecostalism from African Perspectives: Volume 2: Themes (Christianity and Renewal - Interdisciplinary Studies)
by Lovemore Togarasei Ezra Chitando Loreen MasenoThis book makes a significant contribution to the study of African Pentecostalism, by reflecting on their output. Deviating from the widespread phenomenon of scholars from the Global North being dominant voices on African Pentecostalism, this volume brings together African scholars from diverse academic disciplines and African/Diasporan to showcase how they’ve helped to shape the field. This volume addresses the lacuna in the available scholarship by undertaking detailed analyses of how scholarship and exemplifies the various areas where African scholars have made and continue to make contributions. The included chapters engage in methodological debates on African Pentecostalism from the continent as well as from African diaspora, and is a must read for scholars working on Pentecostalism.
African Pentecostalism in Britain: Migration, Inclusion, and the Prosperity Gospel (Studies in Migration and Diaspora)
by Katharine StocklandBased on ethnographic research among African Pentecostal Christians living in the UK, this book addresses themes of migration and community formation, religious identity and practice, and social and political exclusion. With attention to strained kinship relationships, precarious labour conditions, and struggles for legal and social legitimacy, it explores the ways in which intimacy with a Pentecostal God – and with fellow Christians – has been shaped by the challenges of everyday life for Africans in the UK. A study of religious subjectivity and the success of the so-called ‘prosperity’ gospel, African Pentecostalism in Britain examines the manner in which the presence of God is realised for believers through their complex and often-fraught relationships of trust and intimacy with others. As such, it will appeal to sociologists and anthropologists with interests in migration and religion.
African Pentecostals in Catholic Europe
by Annalisa ButticciCatholic Italy is a destination for migrants from Nigeria and Ghana, who bring their own form of Christianity-Pentecostalism, the most Protestant of Christian faiths. At the heart of Annalisa Butticci's ethnography is a paradox. Believers on both sides are driven by a desire to find sensuous, material ways to make the divine visible and tangible.
African Perspectives on Religion and Climate Change (Routledge Studies on Religion in Africa and the Diaspora)
by Ezra Chitando, Ernst M. Conradie and Susan M. KilonzoThis book interrogates the contributions that religious traditions have made to climate change discussions within Africa, whether positive or negative. Drawing on a range of African contexts and religious traditions, the book provides concrete suggestions on how individuals and communities of faith must act in order to address the challenge of climate change. Despite the fact that Africa has contributed relatively little to historic carbon emissions, the continent will be affected disproportionally by the increasing impact of anthropogenic climate change. Contributors to this book provide a range of rich case studies to investigate how religious traditions such as Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and indigenous faiths influence the worldviews and actions of their adherents. The chapters also interrogate how the moral authority and leadership provided by religion can be used to respond and adapt to the challenges posed by climate change. Topics covered include risk reduction and resilience, youth movements, indigenous knowledge systems, environmental degradation, gender perspectives, ecological theories, and climate change financing. This book will be of interest to scholars in diverse fields, including religious studies, sociology, political science, climate change and environmental humanities. It may also benefit practitioners involved in solving community challenges related to climate change.
African Philosophy of Religion and Western Monotheism (Elements in Religion and Monotheism)
by Kirk Lougheed Motsamai Molefe Thaddeus MetzThe Abrahamic faiths of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are typically recognized as the world's major monotheistic religions. However, African Traditional Religion is, despite often including lesser spirits and gods, a monotheistic religion with numerous adherents in sub-Saharan Africa; it includes the idea of a single most powerful God responsible for the creation and sustenance of everything else. This Element focuses on drawing attention to this major world religion that has been much neglected by scholars around the globe, particularly those working in the West or Northern Hemisphere. It accomplishes this primarily by bringing it into conversation with topics in the Anglo-American philosophy of religion.
African Philosophy: An Anthology
by Emmanuel Chukwudi EzeBringing together canonical philosophical texts from African, African-American, Afro-Caribbean, and Black European thinkers, this major new anthology is designed to serve both as a textbook and as the authoritative reference volume in Africana philosophical and cultural studies.
African Pilgrimage: Reports and Reflections from Tanzania (Volume One, 1960-1988)
by Damian J. Millikenthis is an autobiographical account of Fr. Damian J. Milliken's first twenty-eight years as a missionary in Tanzania. Each chapter contains several stories and/or essays about the land, the people and their culture.
African Pilgrimage: Ritual Travel in South Africa's Christianity of Zion
by Retief MüllerYears after the end of Apartheid South Africa remains racially polarized and socially divided. In this context pilgrimage and travelling rituals serve to help those who often find themselves at the bottom end of the social ladder to make sense of their world. This book describes a South Africa that is made up of a number of different fragmented worlds. The focus is on the Zion Christian Church, one of the largest religious movements in southern Africa, and a good example of indigenized African Christianity. Pilgrimage plays an important role in reintegrating some of those fragmented worlds into something approaching wholeness. This book tells the story of how the enduring ritual of pilgrimage is transforming African religion, along with the lives of ordinary South Africans.
African Politics and Ethics: Exploring New Dimensions
by Munyaradzi Felix MuroveIn this book, Munyaradzi Felix Murove explores African traditional ethical resources for African politics. Arguing that African ethics is integral to African post-colonial political contentious discourse, Murove invites the reader to reflect on various problematic political issues in post-colonial Africa and how African ethics has been applied in these situations. Starting with a succinct discussion of the scope of African ethics, he discusses how African ethical values have been applied by post-colonial politicians in the reconstruction of their societies. Further, Murove looks critically at the issue of African poverty and how the ethic of regional integration and economic cooperation among post-colonial African nation-states has been instrumental to efforts aimed at overcoming the scourge of poverty. The main question this book seeks to answer is: Are African traditional ethical values a panacea to modern African political problems?
African Religion Defined: A Systematic Study of Ancestor Worship Among the Akan (3rd Edition)
by Anthony Ephirim-DonkorThis 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.
African Religion: The Moral Traditions of Abundant Life
by Laurenti MagesaDescribes the moral teachings (values, norms and principles to follow so that life might be abundant for all) of the African religion as it relates to individuals and community.
African Religions and Philosophy
by John S. MbitiDiscusses the philosophies, rituals, and ceremonies of various African religions and their influence in the lives of the people.
African Roots: Towards an Afrocentric Christian Witness
by John H. Adams Michael I. Dash L. Rita Dixon Darius L. Swann Ndugu T'Ofori-Atta Zachariah Anderson Rita DixonThis resource will expand our database about our African heritage, help us see the role and contributions of Africa in world culture, motivate us to re-examine some long held stereotypes about African peoples, and move us into the future with a strong pride and hope for the descendants of Africa and the human family. May we forever remember that when one part of the human' family has been dehumanized, the whole family is distorted. Our loving parent, God, is just and faithful, generously giving every branch of the human family good gifts to be used for the liberation and peace of all. In a real sense, this book is about--Identity, the loss of it, the search for it,, the denial of it, the recovery of it. It tells about efforts to appreciate and to affirm identity for a particular ethnic group of this world's peoples. This book is addressed especially to those who are predisposed to engage in this quest for identity and a proper affirmation of it. The curious may be sufficiently interested to contest or challenge those engaged in this search for roots. It is hoped that others who are' indifferent or apathetic may- be aroused by the efforts of the first two groups. So inescapably this is a book for you. This resource seeks to help Christians in general, and African American' Christians in particular, to become more aware of Africa in antiquity, her enormous contributions to other cultures and the depths of the African genius in religion and world culture. It is hoped that each lesson will motivate participants to read more, go deeper than what is offered in this resource. The bibliography is provided as a guide for doing this. In order for African American people to have a healthy and balanced self-love, it is necessary to identify the distortions, to learn a more accurate version of our history, to understand that the experiences in our journey with God are deep, and to teach others, especially our children, so that all of humanity may be transformed by the African presence and contribution to the world. This study resource may be used by individuals or groups. The following groups provide excellent settings: *Family groups *Sunday School Classes *Week-day or night church classes *Retreat settings *Adult Continuing Education Classes *Personal enrichment classes
African Skies
by Karen RispinThough Laurel Binet and Darren Grant both love their work in exotic Africa, they can't stand each other. Their opposing passions spark arguments over what's really important: she's investing her life in the study of wildlife for a master's degree; he has no time for people who waste their energies serving animals when people need food and shelter. When their worlds collide during calamitous seasons of starvation and epidemic, Darren and Laurel have to learn to work together. Encounters with deadly snakes, the unscrupulous acts of a fanatical conservationist, and a frightening kidnapping force both Laurel and Darren to examine their faith -- and their feelings for one another. Can love bring harmony where once there was war?