Chewa Traditional Religion
Date
2005
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Abstract
Africa is the second largest continent in the world. It has many people with
different cultures. The term culture has diverse meaning. In general it refers to
people's entire way of looking at life in a given social context. It involves beliefs,
art, moral, customs and any other kind of human creativity. African cultures provide
us with different African traditional beliefs and practices, which differ from one
society to another. In the African context, values are guarded by traditional laws. It
is therefore not easy to put together African cultures in order to form one universal
culture.
Many writers, scholars, journalists, sociologists and other people in related
fields of study, talk of Africa religion. There is nothing like African religion in
actual sense of the term. This is because, just as there are many different tribes in
Africa, so there are many different religions. Each religion is different from the other
and each stresses a certain value of its culture. This is the reason why we cannot
have uniformity in inculturation of Christianity in Africa.
In this essay we shall limit ourselves to Chewa Traditional Religion of
Malawi's Central region. We will look at ancestorship and inculturation of Christianity. The essay is divided into four chapters. The first chapter, discusses
the origin of the Chewa. where they are found, how they trace their descent and
livelihood, the description of Chewa society. Political. socio- economy and their
religious stance. The approach we have taken in our work is deductive, inductive,
descriptive as well as analytical. Questionnaires will also be used. The topic Chewa
Traditional religion will be studied in the light of Christianity as we attempt to look
at ancestorship and Christianity. The purpose of our work is to discover how Chewa
Traditional Religion becomes a focal point in regards to Chewa belief and Culture.
The Second Chapter examines the ancestral cult of worship. There are many
elements, which describe the role of ancestors in the Chewa cosmos. Some of the
elements conform very much to the gospel values. They can be applied to daily life
of Christians.
Chapter Three discusses the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the inculturation
of Christianity among the Chewa. Inculturation, being the issue at hand in the
Church especially in Africa special attention will be given to it. We shall begin by
looking at the understanding of culture and then relate it to inculturation of
Christianity.
Chapter Four underlines the similarities and differences between Christianity
and ancestorship. It tries to show the Chewa view of Christianity, the perception of
Christ in line with their belief and life after death. The last Chapter also proposes
ways in which inculturation can be actualized and become effective among the
Chewa. It gives insight to missionaries who wish to be successful in their
evangelisation, as it advocates for respect of culture of local people.
Description
Keywords
Traditional Religion, Ancestorship And Inculturation, Christianity Among the Chewa