Welcome to the InfoSci Platform
The African Traditional Religious Ontology of God, Divinities, and Spirits

The African Traditional Religious Ontology of God, Divinities, and Spirits

John Mwangi, Loizer W. Mwakio
Copyright: © 2021 |Pages: 21
ISBN13: 9781799845959|ISBN10: 1799845958|ISBN13 Softcover: 9781799875796|EISBN13: 9781799845966
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-4595-9.ch003
Cite Chapter Cite Chapter

MLA

Mwangi, John, and Loizer W. Mwakio. "The African Traditional Religious Ontology of God, Divinities, and Spirits." Phenomenological Approaches to Religion and Spirituality, edited by Essien D. Essien, IGI Global, 2021, pp. 44-64. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-4595-9.ch003

APA

Mwangi, J. & Mwakio, L. W. (2021). The African Traditional Religious Ontology of God, Divinities, and Spirits. In E. Essien (Ed.), Phenomenological Approaches to Religion and Spirituality (pp. 44-64). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-4595-9.ch003

Chicago

Mwangi, John, and Loizer W. Mwakio. "The African Traditional Religious Ontology of God, Divinities, and Spirits." In Phenomenological Approaches to Religion and Spirituality, edited by Essien D. Essien, 44-64. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-4595-9.ch003

Export Reference

Mendeley
Favorite

Abstract

Earlier scholars of religion argued that Africans were animists and polytheists who didn't have the concept of a supreme being because they did not see clearly the distinction between the supreme being and divinities. It's recent that indigenous scholars disputed this and redefined the relationship as ‘diffused monotheism'. God seemed to be remote to the Africans' daily affairs of life, and African culture of respect and honor had a role in this. The authors attempt to present a reality of an accurate outlook of the obscure yet clear religious ontology of God, divinities, and spirits in the African indigenous religion. Durkheim asserted religion divided society into two categories, the profane and the sacred; nevertheless, in the African religious ontology, the two are intermixed in everyday experiences. On the flip-side, to overlook the concept of spirit being in the African worldview is to proscribe an African religious belief system.

Request Access

You do not own this content. Please login to recommend this title to your institution's librarian or purchase it from the IGI Global bookstore.