Author : Anthony Ephirim-Donkor
Publisher : University Press of America
ISBN 13 : 0761860584
Total Pages : 226 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (618 download)
Book Synopsis African Religion Defined by : Anthony Ephirim-Donkor
Download or read book African Religion Defined written by Anthony Ephirim-Donkor and published by University Press of America. This book was released on 2012-12-07 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African religion is ancestor worship; it revolves around the dead, now thought to be alive and well in heaven (the Samanadzie) and propitiated by the living on earth. For the Akan, the ancestors’ stool is the emblem of the ancestors (Nananom Nsamanfo). Led by their kings and queen mothers as living ancestors, the Akan periodically propitiate the ancestors’ stools housing their ancestors. In return, the ancestors and deities influence the affairs of living descendants, making ancestor worship as tenably viable as any other religion. This second edition updates the scholarship on ancestor worship by demonstrating the centrality of the ancestors’ stool as the ultimate religious symbol. In addition, all chapters have been expanded. A new chapter has been added to show how ancestor worship is pragmatically integrative, theologically sound, teleological as well as soteriological, with a highly trained clerical body and elders as mediators.