Did the Early Missionaries Introduce God to Africans?
Terrence Tazvivinga
Principal Investment Officer (Resource Mobilization and Climate Finance) | Board Member
1.Introduction
Christianity is now arguably the dominant religion on the African continent. But this has not always been the case. Christianity came to Africa mostly through missionaries from western countries. However, an argument is raised on whether Africans already knew God before the coming of missionaries to Africa. Some would argue that Africa had no knowledge of the supreme God and were only introduced to him by the missionaries. Some on the other hand argue that the missionaries only brought the gospel of Jesus Christ to an African continent which was already worshipping God, albeit in a different manner. This essay seeks to explore and determine whether Africans already knew about God before the coming in of missionaries.
2.Definition of Key Terms
Missionaries: A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith. In the Christian context missionaries go into a community to teach about Jesus Christ and the Christian faith (Campelsville University, 2023). God: God is the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith as enunciated in the Bible (Faithward, 2022). African Traditional Religion: African Traditional Religion comprises the religious beliefs and practices of the Africans which have been in existence from time immemorial and are still adhered to today by many Africans which have been handed down by their fore-bearers (Mndende, 1994)
3.Missionary Condemnation of African Traditional Religion as Demonic
Hassan (2015) shows how missionaries argued that the African people neither had any religion nor any form of beliefs. Missionaries thus often preached that African beliefs were devilish, satanic, demonic to mention but a few. According to Roth (2020) early Western writers referred to Africa as the “dark continent” and dismissed traditional African religions as demonic and anti-Christian. With this view at the back of their minds, these writers saw western missionaries as saviours who brought the knowledge of God and Christianity to Africa. Nkomazana (2007) provides further evidence of the views of the missionaries when details how one of the first missionaries to come to Botswana, Robert Moffat, strongly believed that the Batswana had no concept of a supreme being. Another problem was that the missionaries came from a society where religion was reflected by buildings, which stood for the church and represented religious beliefs and practices. The absence of these structures among the Africans was an attestation of the African 'heathen' life and a lack of a concept of God (Nkomazana, 2007). In other words, the view was that it was the missionaries who brought God to an African continent which was lost in the worship of demons. As would expected, this blanket condemnation of African spirituality by the westerners led to serious conflict. Hassan (2015) posits that religious tensions often degenerated into confrontation between Christianity and African Traditional religion that eventually led to the murder of early Christian converts by their tribal leaders as punishment.
4.Did Missionaries Bring God to Africa?
One of the avid opponents to the views of early missionaries stated above was J.S. Mbiti, a famous theologian from Kenya. Mbiti (1980) argues that Africans already knew about God though they had not yet received the gospel of Jesus Christ. Mbiti further argues that the God described in the Bible is none other than the God who is already known in the framework of our traditional African religiosity. He boldly asserts that the missionaries who introduced the gospel to Africa did not bring God to Africa but instead it was God who brought them to Africa. This view resonates well with Jesus’ words in Acts 1:8 (KJV) when he said “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”. In line with this promise from Jesus, God then send the missionaries with the gospel to Africans who already knew God. Islam and Islam (2015) go further to assert that in African Traditional Religion the knowledge of God is something that is natural from birth. According to an Ashanti proverb, ‘No one shows a child the Supreme Being’.
5. The Concept of God in African Traditional Religion
5.1.The One and Only Supreme God
As alluded to earlier, people like Mbiti (1980) argue that before the coming of missionaries Africans already knew God and this is the same God found in the bible. Nkomazana (2007) supports this view giving an example of the Batswana people of Botswana. The religion of the Batswana was from time immemorial monotheistic. Batswana traditionally believed in a single Supreme Being whom they called Modimo, literally meaning the one who is supreme and above. Modimo was believed to be the Creator, Maker, Originator and Source of all things, including life. Islam and Islam (2015) assert that idea of the oneness of God is a given in African Traditional Religion (ATR). There is no sacred text in written form, but the root of this traditional idea of God is mainly taken from proverbs, short statements, stories, religious rituals, prayers, songs, myths, etc. In ATR God is also believed to be supreme. God is supreme and great over all visible and invisible beings or things that we believe to exist. For example, the Ndebele name of God is ‘Unkulunkulu’, which means ‘the Great-great-One’. Like them, the Tonga, the Ngoni, the Akan, the Baluba and some other tribes designate God as ‘Great God’, or Great One’, or ‘the Great King’.
5.2.God the Creator of the Universe
Just like the God described in the Bible, the God of ATR is the creator of everything. According to (Odozor, 2019), Africans came to believe in God by reflecting on their experience and through observation of the created universe. In other words, Africans believe that there is one God who is the creator of the universe. This idea is supported by Islam and Islam (2015) who cite many examples of African tribes such as the Shonas who call God ‘Musiki’ (Creator). The Lunda describe God as ‘the Father Creator’ and the Ila hold three designations of God as Creator, Moulder and Constructor.
5.3.A Merciful and Benevolent God
ATR adherents believe that if they ask God for help, he can assist them. This is evident in the various ceremonies held to appease God for him to provide human needs such as rainmaking ceremonies (Odozor, 2019). Africans also believed that God can provide for their day to day needs and that is why in the Shona there are sayings such as ‘Denga rinopa’ (Heaven can provide).
6. The Relationship Between Ancestral Spirits and God in ATR
Just like in the bible, in ATR God is believed to be domiciled in heaven. According to Nkomazana (2007), believed that God lived far above in heaven and that He could not be directly approached. This led Africans to now seek intermediaries in the form of ancestral spirits (Vadzimu). The ancestral spirits are many and are believed to play important roles assigned to them by God. They are far from being equal to God and they do not even attempt to compete with Him. This formed a fundamental difference between ATR and the missionaries who believed in Jesus Christ as the only intermediary between man and God. This however validates the earlier point that it is God who then sent the missionaries to African not to introduce God but to introduce the one and only intermediary called Jesus Christ. Becoming a Christian did not involve the rejection of God or throwing away their traditional concept of the Supreme Being, but the replacement of ancestral spirits with Jesus Christ as Mediator and the Revelation of God. Nkomazana (2007) posits that the early missionaries' failure to properly grasp this intricate relationship between ancestral spirits and God could have misled them into thinking that Africans had no concept of God.
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7. Divergent Views on the Concept of God in ATR
Some scholars are vehemently opposed to the idea that Africans already knew the God of Christianity way before the missionaries came to Africa. Han and Beyers (2017) opine that proponents of the ‘same God’ tend to generalise their propositions. Although God is widely conceived of as the Creator of all things in Africa, many exceptional cases demonstrate that some African people do not recognise God as Creator of the universe and humankind. As a pushback against such criticism, it is important to note that this situation is not peculiar to Africa alone. Even in the western world there are many people who do not believe in the God who is the creator of the universe. That is not enough evidence to conclude that the western world does not have a concept of God. Han and Beyers (2017) also argue against the idea that Africa was monotheistic before the coming of the missionaries. They posit that African monotheism is unrealistic, because each ethnic group conceptualises its own particular concept of God, due to a particular historical, religio-cultural context in which the religious elements have developed. According to Smith (1950) the reality is that many African cultures worshipped their ancestors. The categorization of ancestral spirits as mere intermediaries is a feeble attempt to justify the existence of multiple deities.
8.Conclusion
In conclusion, the concept of God appears to have always existed in African Traditional Religion. ATR tended to be monotheistic with people believing in God who is supreme, benevolent and is the creator of the universe. Any divergent practises that seem to include other gods should not be the basis of concluding that Africans did not have a concept of God before the coming of the missionaries. Such is common even in western countries. It is also important to note that the coming of missionaries did not result in the names for God being reinvented. The same names like Mwari, Musikavanhu, Nkulunkulu, Modimo etc are still being used to refer to the Christian God. This implies that he is the same God who was being worshipped in Africa before the coming of missionaries.
REFERENCES
Campbellsville University (2023), What is a Missionary, CU Online
Faithward (2023), Who is God, Faithward
Han, Y & Beyers, J (2017), A Critical Evaluation of The Understanding of God in J.S. Mbiti’s Theology, University of Pretoria, Pretoria
Hassan, T.L. (2015), Attitudes of Christian missionaries towards African traditional religious beliefs in East Africa during the British colonial rule, African Journal of History and Culture,
Volume 7 Number 10 October 2015
Islam, S. & Islam D (2015), African Traditional ReligionConcept of God: A Critical Analysis, Green University Review of Social Sciences, Volume 02, Issue 01, June-2015
Mndende, N (1994), African Religion and Religion Education, University of Capetown
Nkomazana, F (2007), Some Evidence of Belief in the True God Among the Batswana Before the Missionaries, SABINET African Journals https://hdl.handle.net/10520/AJA18172741_4
Odozor, I. (2019), The Essence of African Traditional Religion, Church Life Journal, McGrath Institute for Church Life, University of Notre Dame, USA
Roth, J (2020), Learning from African Theology, Global Anabaptism