Voodoo Religion and Evangelism in Southern Benin
Date
2000-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tangaza University College
Abstract
The mission of the Church has remained for many centuries the "Mission to the Nations" bearing as her
main objectives the expansion of the Church and the proclamation of the gospel, the Good News of the
Kingdom of God. In the contemporary society, the mission of the Church in the world and in Africa and
especially after the African Synod, has been "Ad Cultures", that is, the 'Mission to the Cultures".
It is in this regard that much research has been done on the African religions and many universities have
come to include courses on African Traditional Religion (AIR) in their religious study Programmes.
Furthermore, both native African scholars' and non-Africans2 have conducted studies on the topic of
Voodoo Religion. However, lithe has been done to date to consider Voodoo Religion as a great challenge
to the Christian Missions in many West African countries, particularly in Benin. It is important to study
Voodoo religion because although it is an "Indigenous African Religion which is also widely spread in Latin
American countriesta, it is still considered by Western scholars as a mere system of beliefs and
superstitions and not as a religion as such.
The religious beliefs in voodoo have also been felt within the social as well as political spheres in Latin
America. In Benin, 'Voodoo Religion has almost 58% adepts, while the Christians (all denominations
included) am about 24% of the populationcl. Voodoo religion is, therefore, a great challenge for the Church.
This challenge is facilitated by the strong organisation within Voodoo Religion, the attitude of the Christians
towards Voodoo practitioners and most probably the favour received by the religion during the seventeen
years of 'Marxist Leninism' regime of 1972-1989. In the independent Benin (formerly Dahomey), the
president was required to take his oath 'before God and the ancestors and official ceremonies were accompanied by libations and offerings to ancestors and the Voodoo gods. All politicians tried to get
support of the Voodoo priests who had considerable political influence. In the Revolutionary National
Assembly, the religious bodies were to be represented by three Traditionalists, one Muslim, one Catholic
and one Protestant. The new government became more and more repressive against the Catholic
Church."5 This favour from the politicians to the Voodoo religion is still growing. in 1996 President
Nicephore So& of Benin instituted a 'National Voodoo day', on the tenth of January. The Benin National
assembly supported this. It has given Voodoo Religion an official recognition like other faiths, while
maintaining its independence from political regimes. That is why Voodoo Religion remains a great
challenge for the Church missions in Benin.
The main focus of this essay is to answer the following question: Shall we continue keeping the attitude of
rejection towards Voodoo Religion or shall we look into the matter as a new challenge to the Church's
mission and see how to face it? We strongly believe that the more we continue to keep a distance or an
attitude of rejection against Voodoo Religion and its adherents, the wider the gap between Christianity and
Voodoo Religion, a situation, which will open more way for syncretism within Voodoo worship in Benin.
We are aware that one of the challenges of the African Synod is the 'urgent need for inculturation". As
stated in the final exhortation of Pope John Paul II, on the synod, "Inculturation includes two dimensions; on
the one hand, it is the ultimate transformation of authentic cultural values through their integration in
Christianity, and on the other hand, the insertion of Christianity in the various human cultures"7. To achieve
this objective, we need to have some basic knowledge of the authentic religious values hidden in most
African Cultures. This essay thus, presents an anthropological and theological evaluation of Voodoo Religion, in order to suggest a new missionary methodology of evangelisation in the Voodoo areas of
southern Benin.
This essay is based on personal observations of Voodoo practices as practised and lived by some
members of the author's family and friends. Although, the author has never been initiated into Voodoo
Religion, this work is based on the evidence of direct non-participant observation. Other data for this essay
was collected through in-depth interviews, which were done with some contemporary Voodoo practitioners
and some converts to Christianity,(See Appendix no.4). This method was used to provide reliable data to
support the discussions in this essay. Secondary data was obtained from library research.
This work is divided into four chapters. The first chapter gives some background information on the social,
political, and religious context of southern Benin. The last section of this chapter is dedicated to the scope
of the influence of Voodoo Religion in West Africa particularly in Benin in comparison to the case of Haiti.
The second chapter presents the nature of Voodoo Religion. Here we give an operational definition of the
term "religion", before defining and examining the evolution of Voodoo religion. In the same section some
conventional descriptions of ATR will be examined. The main emphasis of the chapter two is on the
organisation, the rituals, and the system of beliefs in Voodoo religion.
The third chapter is about the interaction between Voodoo religion and Christianity. The emphasis is put on
the attitude of Christians towards Voodoo and its adherents. The problem of syncretism within Voodoo
religion and its influence on the Christian Missions are also evaluated.
The last chapter presents the summary, conclusion and some recommendations. Here some analysis is
made on whether Voodoo Religion is a myth or a reality. We also present some problems, which the new Christian converts from Voodoo face with regard to the conflicts between their beliefs in Voodoo and the
newly embraced Christian faith. In the last section of Chapter four, we examine some values implicit in
Voodoo religion and show how these values can be used for successful inculturation in Benin. In this
sense, we attempt to provide a model for a shift from the Voodoo concept of God and gods to the revealed
God as manifested in Jesus Christ. In the conclusion, we suggest a new methodology of evangelisation in
Southern Benin.
We acknowledge the fact that this essay is not exhaustive. This is an explorative presentation to provide
some basic information on the relevance of Voodoo to the inculturation process in Southern Benin. This
essay is highly relevant to anthropologists, missiologists, missionaries and pastoral agents, who are
interested in the social and spiritual development in Benin and other parts of the world, such as Haiti, Cuba,
Brazil and Trinidad, where African Traditional Religion still has an influence.
Description
Keywords
Voodoo, Evangelization, Religion, Traditional, Church