Igbo traditional religion and Christianity

0 0
Spread the love
Read Time:14 Minute, 26 Second

RESTORING THE BROKEN-LINK

The question that is being asked today is that of Igbo traditional religion in relation to Christianity. The question has become more urgent today following the explosion of christianity in Africa where the population is more than 300 million people.

The great Apostle Paul categorically points to the fact that the worship of the pagan gods is a distortion of God’s revelation in nature (Rom. 1:18-23). In Acts 17:16-34 he told the people of Athens that the ‘Unknown God’ they worship is Jesus Christ. In the book of Hebrews 1:1, Paul disclosed that the God who spoke to our forefathers in various ways had now spoken in the last days by his son Jesus Christ. The incarnation has made all people savable.

The Igbo people are1ucky people. Our great grand ancestor ‘Eri’ in Nri myth knew God – “Chukwu”. ‘Chukwu’ has offered the last and final revelation in Jesus Christ, and he is the only foundation for humanity, there is no other. (1 Corth 3: 11), and every veil which had hitherto covered people is destroyed and taken away by him for us to have freedom (2 Cor3:16-18). We are told in the book of Proverbs 16:25 that:

There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death.

In acts 14:8-18 Paul made it clear to the people of Lystra that God had never left himself without a witness and had also in time past let all nations go their own way and then wed them in the words of Samuel the prophet (1 Samuel 12:21) to turn from their useless idols that can do them neither good nor rescue them but to turn to the living God who made heaven, and earth and sea and everything in them. It is Jehovah who alone is both God and Saviour (Isaiah 43:11-13).

The Bible makes it abundantly clear that God himself does not give his glory to another or his praise to idols (Isaiah 42:8) Isaiah 42:17. And whenever people pour libation to other gods, Jehovah’s anger is always provoked (Jeremiah 7:19-19). Thus in Exodus 20:3-5, God commanded:

You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven, above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them —

Nri thought he was right in his worship of the Earth goddess and his sacrifices. He saw the created beings as intermediaries. He became a captive of Satan and lost his freedom. In Igbo traditional religion, the concept of Deus Otiosus is explained by appeal to the lesser gods and the ancestors as intermediaries (middlemen). On this the Bible declared in John 14:6: Jesus answered I am the way, the truth and the life.

No one comes to the father except through me.

Similarly in reacting to the great tendency of elaborate sacrifices in Igbo traditional life, Christ offered himself as sacrifice once for all (Heb. 10:10, 14). Salvation is found only in Jesus (Acts 4:12, John 3:16). Jesus is the only foundation for humanity. The foundation laid by Igbo ancestry in their purest contact with ‘Chukwu’ has yielded fruit right from the time the first missionary set foot on Igbo soil. Christianity is not a white man’s religion. It is the religion of those who have accepted faith in God through Jesus Christ. The Igbo christians have joined the list of noble African church leaders like Origen, Athanacius, Tertullian and Augustine. Recently Reverend Father Tansi is canonized as Saint in the Roman Catholic Church and again Cardinal Arinze is the first black to be elevated to the 4th powerful position in the Roman Catholic hierarchy and by this he can even become a Pope. Great developments can come to Igbo land and Nigeria, if we commit ourselves to Jesus Christ as Lord. Jesus Christ alone is the answer to Igbo spiritual and material needs. According to Acts 17:28, we hear:

For in him we live and Move and have our being.

In him alone we find satisfaction and meaning for our life in this world and hereafter. This kind of choice, faith commitment has tremendous developmental implication for us as a people and as a nation. No one can deny that looking upwards to Chukwu has been more beneficial than looking downwards to our ancestors. They were men who lived and died in their time. Where we are today has been the fruit of Christianity and western education.

The 21st century challenges the Igbo to take a leap of faith and be properly restored in our relationship with God first entered into by Igbo earliest ancestor, A.O. Anya {2002) recently has rightly drawn attention to the demand of the 21st century marked by a transition from a resource-driven economy, society and culture to the new and emerging economy and culture which is knowledge-based, technology driven and responsive to environmental concerns. Igbo Christianity and spirituality must respond to this new demand. Because we must not allow our culture to retard our development as a people, we must let our culture be judged and transformed by the word of God as contained in the Bible. The Bible makes it clear that people perish for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6) this we can avoid by engaging in aggressive education of ourselves and our people. Igbo religion can accelerate economic development of the Igbo nation, and the nation at large. This education can emphasize knowledge and character formation that comes through changing our general orientation in terms of values and attitudes, knowledge that would include acquiring skills and idea that can change the mind. You change man and his environment when you succeed in the mind. Ignorance is one of our destructive hindering forces in our society. With sound knowledge of God, man and society, we will appreciate the danger of superstition, idolatry, caste system and sacrifices to their idols and with good character formation whereby we imbibe christian values, we become major resource for economic and spiritual growth which will minimize corruption, improve human relations and increase our productive capacity for personal growth and social development. This religious demand of the 21st century demands risk, choice and commitment. Risk because once you put your hand on the plough there is no more looking backwards. Choice because it is a matter of life or death. Commitment because it involves vision and mission. The dominant Igbo religious and philosophical ideas require those three dimensions, which constitute Igbo man’s identity, vision and mission rooted in our faith in Chukwu who not only creates but sustains and protects. Christianity and education which act as source of empowerment will equip us with character and knowledge that- can transform us into agents of change in our time.

Happy
Happy
0 %
Sad
Sad
0 %
Excited
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
Angry
0 %
Surprise
Surprise
0 %

Facebook Comments

Previous post Take a Clue from the Frog
Next post Course Information

Average Rating

5 Star
0%
4 Star
0%
3 Star
0%
2 Star
0%
1 Star
0%

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.