Christianity and African Traditional Religion and Worldview

For more than a generation Yusufu Turaki has been one of Africa’s most distinguished and productive evangelical theologians. Here in two substantial volumes we have the fruit of his mature reflection on a principal crux of the African theological project, namely the appropriate way for African Christianity to understand and address Africa’s traditional religious heritage.  Since one cannot understand Africa without understanding Africa’s traditional heritage, and since the religious dimension Africa’s traditional culture affects all aspects of modern African life, Christian presence and witness in Africa cannot flourish within its context without a serious theological and practical engagement with these realities.  This is not Turaki’s first endeavour in this field of inquiry. He has been engaging these issues throughout his academic and ministry careers. And in doing so he has also been interacting with the considerable range of thinkers and literature in this field. Furthermore, within what otherwise has often been an ill-defined and poorly disciplined discussion, Turaki proposes a particular and fruitful way forward. In these two large volumes Turaki is both commending and demonstrating a biblically-grounded, theologically-responsible methodology for a Christian understanding of African Traditional Religion. He seeks to show how Christianity can best address African Traditional Religion with informed realism, with scholarly depth and integrity, and with biblical faithfulness. Having taken his first degree in Nigeria, Turaki then earned masters and doctoral degrees at leading academic institutions overseas. Thereafter he was long involved in the leadership of one of Africa’s principal theological institutions, Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS), and in the leadership of one of Africa’s principal evangelical denominations, the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA). In more recent years Turaki has also been engaged in international ministries and venues, including work with the Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA), the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), and the Lausanne movement (LCWE), as well as in extensive writing and teaching ministries In the first volume of this major contribution Turaki provides an in-depth study of the African traditional religious worldview. He is convinced that a thorough familiarity with the religious mindset of traditional Africa is essential for any effective Christian presence and witness in modern Africa. He first surveys both western and African scholarly approaches to traditional religion. Then he undertakes a detailed introduction to the foundational theological, psychological, philosophical, ethical, and moral beliefs of African Traditional Religion, together with the relevant rituals, sacrifices, ceremonies, and festivals. He also emphasises how those beliefs pervasively influence religious attitudes, practice and social behaviour throughout Africa today.  In the second volume Turaki then turns to outline a Christian and biblical approach to the realities of African Traditional Religion in modern Africa. He discusses each major component of an African traditional worldview from this standpoint. In doing so Turaki emphasises that the principal task of Christian reflection in Africa is not to understand Christianity from the perspective of African traditional culture and religion, but to understand African traditional culture and religion from the perspective of a Christian and biblical worldview.