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INTERSECTION OF AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION AND 

CHRISTIANITY: THOUGHTS FOR THE PROMOTION OF MUTUAL RELATIONS 

 

Ikechukwu Anthony Kanu, PhD 
Department of Philosophy,  

Veritas University Abuja 

ikee-mario@yahoo.com 

 

ABSTRACT 

Among some Christian quarters, there is a strong belief that it is outrageous and even 

blasphemous to compare African traditional religion with Christianity. This is based on the 

understanding that the comparison of Christianity with African Traditional Religion can 

desecrate Christianity. Little wonder then, some Christian scholars have described African 

Traditional Religion in derogatory terms: paganism, fetishism, heathenism, animism, 

polytheism, idolatry, etc., in juxtaposition to Christianity. This notwithstanding, Joseph Raz 

has argued that value is the great uniter and the common bond of mankind. It is from this 

understanding that this paper emerges. It argues that African Traditional Religion and 

Christianity have a good range of ethical and religious values in common, which reveals that 

Christianity is not alien to Africans. This is not in any way a denial of the obvious areas of 

divergence between the two religions. For this paper, the comparative method of analysis was 

employed by the author.  The paper submits that such similarities are possible given that there 

was already the seed of Christianity in African traditional values and religion, even before the 

arrival of missionaries to Africa. 

Keywords: Values, African, Traditional, Christianity, Religion, Comparative analysis. 

INTRODUCTION 

Good data never goes out of style, and neither do they lose their freshness or excitement. In 

African traditional cultures, there are strong ethical religious values that are still vibrant and to 

speak of them as straw-men theories would be inconsistent with contemporary religious 

teachings that still hold strongly to us, as in Christianity. The major aim of this paper is to 

sensitize our readers to the fact that African traditional religion and Christianity are pregnant 

with rich ethical and social values that can be studied alongside each other. Little wonder Raz 

(2004) states that “values are universal” (p. 3). Even though the African traditional culture has 

undergone so much deterioration following Western influence, the researcher has gone back to 

the source of African ideals to see what the traditional African believes in; and this does not in 

any way claim any attempt to explore all the ethical and religious ideals that the African holds, 

however, it adopts a new method by making a comparative study of the value systems in 

African traditional thought and Christianity.  

Purpose of Study 

The main purpose of this study on comparing African Traditional Religion with Christianity is 

to help us gain a deeper understanding of both faiths, promote cross-cultural understanding, 

and celebrate the rich religious diversity of the African continent. Other purposes include: 

mailto:ikee-mario@yahoo.com


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1. African Traditional Religion is an integral part of African cultural identity, and 

comparing it with Christianity helps us understand the similarities and differences 

between the two religions. 

2. This study will encourage mutual understanding, respect, and tolerance between 

adherents of both faiths, fostering peaceful coexistence. 

3. Highlighting that both ATR and Christianity share common theological themes, such 

as belief in a supreme being, spirits, and the afterlife. 

4. Illuminating how African cultures have influenced Christian practices and vice versa, 

demonstrating the dynamic nature of religious beliefs. 

5. Encouraging academic and theological research and enhancing our understanding of 

religious diversity, enriching academic disciplines like theology, anthropology, and 

sociology. 

6. Helping to develop Africanized Christian theologies, making Christianity more relevant 

and meaningful in African contexts. 

 

Methodology 

The methodology employed for the sake of this paper is the comparative approach. The 

comparative method is often applied when looking for patterns of similarities and differences, 

which explains continuity and change. While undertaking comparative research, Most Similar 

Systems Design is often used. It consists in comparing very similar cases that differ in the 

dependent variable, on the assumption that this will make it easier to find those independent 

variables which explain the presence/absence of the dependent variable. Also used is the Most 

Different Systems Design, which compares very different cases, all of which have the same 

dependent variable in common, so that any other circumstance that is present in all the cases 

can be regarded as the independent variable. In the case of this study, it’s a comparative study 

of the Christian religion and the African Traditional Religion. What will be used in this case is 

the Most Similar Systems Design, given that the emphasis of this study is the similarities. 

TRADITIONAL AFRICAN RELIGION 

Information on traditional African religion is at times difficult to access as no written records 

were made of it until the Europeans came to the continent. Religion was passed down from 

generation to generation through oral tradition. This means that there could have been some 

distortion in its documentation as this in many cases was eventually done from a non-African 

perspective, usually by missionaries (Munemo, 1994). African tradition or culture has its 

authentic institutions and patterns of behaviour and values. It is a tradition or culture that values 

highly the ideals of honesty, hospitality, respect for elders, respect for the sacredness of life, 

communal life, liberty, social justice, and consciousness of the divine.  

The primary function of traditional African religion was that of fighting evil in society and 

making life more bearable. Society used religion to address the problems of drought, famine 

and other disasters. Wherever the African was so was his religion; he took it to the fields when 

he was working, and he went hunting with it in the forest. Worship for the Africans took place 

wherever and whenever they were in need, either asking for help from the gods, deities or 

living-dead or giving thanks to them for their help (Mbiti, 1969). 



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Traditional African society believed in the existence of gods which has led to insinuations that 

African traditional religion is pantheistic. In traditional African religion there exists a very 

strong belief in evil, which was thought to be inimical to life, strength, health, fertility and 

prosperity. Africans saw evil as all that detracts from or destroys life, illness, infertility, 

pestilence, famine and sudden or inexplicable death (Kiernan, 2001).  Many activities had a 

symbolic meaning to the Africans: to the Africans for instance, the playing of drums was a 

spiritual thing and doing so symbolised a unification of the player and his living dead. Coupled 

with this was the dancing, which was also a symbol of being at one with one's living dead, and 

it was through his dancing that the living dead or deities took possession of that individual. 

Africans believe working with the body in ritual releases spiritual forces which ensure natural 

and social harmony (Gray, 1990).   

FROM AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION TO CHRISTIANITY 

The growth of Christianity in Africa has been very spectacular, Africa is on record as the 

continent with the highest numerical Christian growth rate in the world (Barrett, 1982), and the 

Bible has been identified as "a major contributor" to this phenomenal growth of Christianity in 

Africa (Mbiti, 1986). The Bible is certainly very much valued and used by African Christians. 

Also, it is important to note that Africans were not embracing religion in a completely new way 

when they adopted the Christian faith but rather something which fulfilled what they already 

knew (Munemo, 1994). The main function of traditional religion had been to give protection 

to the people from evil as observed earlier. With the coming of Christianity, the fight against 

the forces of evil involved the same approach, and thus to the Africans the 'new' faith retained 

the functions of their traditional religion. The Christian missionaries with their exorcisms, the 

use of holy water, the wearing of rosaries, and the use of emblems of Maria to cast out evil 

were not new to Africans; these things were replacements for their old charms, medicines and 

amulets; even though, the Africans were being asked to embrace new forms of 'charms', the 

concept behind their use was the same, so the Africans did not find it very difficult to change 

to this type of religious observance (Munemo, 1994). 

Christianity has a monotheistic conception of God; their God is an omniscient, omnipotent, 

super-sensible supreme being, whereas, for the Africans, the gods' existence is both material 

and spiritual. His belief assures him that gods exist, and their affirmation and justification of 

their existence is the fulfilment of their contractual obligations but in the Christian sense, God 

is accessible by reason and the human spirit (Nze, 1981). Also, the African, contrary to the 

Christian manner, is in daily direct contact with his gods for the good of all. In Christendom, 

religion is a personal thing for the salvation of the individual. In contrast, African traditional 

religion was usually a communal affair, practised not just for the spiritual and physical benefit 

of an individual or his immediate kin, but for the well-being of all within the purview of the 

celebrant. Shrines of deities erected in compounds and in villages generally honoured these 

deities and invited them to protect and prosper all within the compound or village. For 

Christianity, as for African culture, values were upheld in high esteem and no human action or 

behaviour good or bad, escapes the vigilant attention of both God and the earth god (Chieka, 

1998).  

VALUES IN AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION WITH CHRISTIAN 

ANALOGIES 

In the religious sphere  



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In Africa, there is a widespread belief in a supreme God, unique and transcendent. Africans 

have a sense of the sacred and a sense of mystery; there is high reverence for sacred places, 

persons and objects; sacred times are celebrated. It is difficult to separate the life of the African 

from his inclination to the divine. It is in this regard that he does everything with the 

consciousness of God. Mbiti (1969) puts this succinctly,  

Wherever the African is, there is his religion. He carries it to the fields where 

he is sowing seeds or harvesting new crops, he takes it with him to a beer parlour 

or to attend a funeral ceremony; and if he is educated, he takes religion with him 

to the examination room at school or in the university; if he is a politician, he 

takes it to the house of parliament. (p. 2) 

In the contention of Njoku (2004), this aspect of his daily life was such that,  

The African man had many taboos to observe, and many daily rituals to perform, 

either to appease the community or the divinities. If he was not an indirect or 

unconscious slave of the dominant conscious, he held perpetual allegiance to 

one divinity or another. If he was ‘free’ with men, he was not free with nature 

or his environment. Suppose community and environment allow him to live his 

life with fewer burdens, he would still have to pay the debts owed by his past 

ancestors. (p. 57).  

The traditional religious practices of the Africans are indeed anthropocentric in the sense that 

all their religious practices invariably point to one objective, namely, human life and its 

preservation. Prayers and sacrifices offered to the gods and the ancestors all have one end in 

view, namely, the welfare of man (Maquet, 1972). There is a harmonious interplay between 

the Decalogue and the African moral code. Given the first Decalogue which makes us duty-

bound to God, African ethics similarly has an unreserved respect for the divine. His everyday 

life is pervaded by the thoughts of the sacred. The accordance of respect to our parents is the 

content of the fourth Decalogue; the African culture goes many miles beyond the requirement. 

Stealing and perjury are frowned upon in relation to the sixth, seventh and eighth 

commandments of the Christian scripture respectively. These are strongly embedded in the 

values already upheld by the Africans. 

In connection with the transvaluation of religious values, one must not forget the African's 

great value of ancestor worship. "Everywhere the African is first defined by reference to his 

ancestor" (Maquet, 1972). The ancestors, "living or dead" are the great intermediaries between 

the African Great God (with different names in different African nations). On becoming a 

Christian, the African easily sees Christ, the only mediator between God and man, as "a proto-

ancestor." This interpretation is advanced by African theologians in their effort to Africanize 

the church or incarnate Christianity in the local culture.  

Also, since urbanization as a modern African value is inseparable from such other concomitant 

values as industrialization and Christianity, the African's great love for large families, extended 

family-hood and community is practised on a much higher level in Christianity, since the 

African Christian sees the church as one large institution housing all members of the one family 

of God. All people become brothers under one God, as all strive for the same home and destiny, 

namely, heaven. Consequently, the African Christian sees not only the members of his natural 



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family but all human beings as brothers and sisters. In the same way, Christianity professes the 

same common Father and hence a common brotherhood for all people.  

In the social sphere 

The African sense of ‘Hospitality’ is one of the values that are still quite alive. Hospitality is a 

duty and is the most common value in African Traditional Religion. Between kith and kin and 

people of the same clan, there is a very strong sense of sharing solidarity and belonging. Efforts 

are made to secure and promote justice and peace within the community. The nuclear family 

and the extended family have been the pivots of the African social system. Respect for 

authority, sanctioned by the ancestors, is strong and represents the common will.  

The poor and the sick are taken care of; widows and orphans are looked after. Africans are 

generally known to be hospitable and accommodating. Visitors are well received and treated, 

with the African conviction that visitors are bearers of blessing and as such whoever welcomes 

a visitor welcomes peace. Everyone is a potential visitor because the host today may become 

the visitor to the hosted tomorrow, and the sharing of meals is not usually preceded by 

notification (Ujah, 2007). About the Ette people, their sense of hospitality is unique. Some 

people are living here in Ette who are not ‘sons of the soil’, but they are welcome on their 

arrival and even given land to farm or build on. Any one of them who is married in Ette and 

stays up to ten years is automatically called the ‘son of the soil’ (Edoyi, 2009; Kanu 2024).   

In a like manner, Ireogbu views the African spirit of hospitality thus, 

No special rendezvous is required to join in a meal with another family one has 

just visited during a meal. On arrival, once there is food, the visitor is invited is 

invited to eat. He or she is treated kindly, just as one would like to be treated 

when visiting another home. Sharing with a needy neighbour who comes for 

assistance is a value that is highly cherished in African culture (1994: 88). 

The Christian scripture advises “Let your foot be seldom in your neighbour’s house lest he 

become weary and hate you” (Prov. 25:17). This passage of scripture encourages hospitality, 

however, it warns against those who take advantage of people’s hospitality. 

The adage “A single tree cannot make a forest” finds a potent expression in the Communal 

character of African life. Communal living which breeds solidarity makes the African realize 

his need in the community. Mbiti (1969), a popular African Philosopher expresses the African 

concept of community in these words, “I am because we are, and since we are, therefore I am”. 

According to Joseph Omoregbe (1994), because of the place community occupies in the life of 

an African said that “African makes no distinction between brother, half brother, nephew, 

cousin. Whosoever has the fortune of being even a little better off than the other members of 

the extended family comes to the aid of others. The misfortune of one member of the extended 

family is shared by all, and the fortune of any member is shared by all.” The Acts of Apostles 

(4:32-5:1-17) praises the community life of the early Christian community; they shared their 

possessions so that those who had nothing shared in the wealth of those who had enough. 

Another virtue highly honoured by Africans afterlife itself is ‘Purity’. It encapsulates most 

importantly, chastity and marital fidelity. From this perspective, adultery, flirting or premarital 

sexual unions were serious crimes against the family and community at large. And if a man has 

sexual intercourse with a woman who he is not married, the rites of purification would have to 



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be performed. In the Christian scripture, there are many calls to embrace the purity of life: 

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord I am Holy, and have separated you from the people that you 

should mine” (Lev. 20:26), “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14).  

Still, on the social sphere, Olowo Ojade (1990) pointed out that as regards ‘Gratitude’, Africans 

are charming. As such, many African proverbs abound in reference to gratitude, which every 

member of the society is called to imbibe. “When you are unwell, you promise a cow, but when 

you recover a chicken would do”. “Friendship with a ferryman right from the dry season means 

that when the rain comes, you would be the first to cross”. The gratitude emphasized by the 

African culture is also parallel to the Christian scripture’s insistence on gratitude: “It is a good 

thing to give thanks unto the Lord” (Ps. 136: 2), “Give thanks unto the Lord for he is good” 

(Ps. 107:2). 

In the cultural sphere  

In the sphere of the cultural, man is located within his environment as the centre of reality and 

making him feel at home in it is of utmost importance. Tradition is handed down through 

stories, poems, hymns, proverbs, riddles and art. The whole community is involved in the 

training of the young, and education itself has a necessary community and social aspect. The 

moral education of youth is taken seriously. Everyone older than the other is respected by the 

younger in Africa (Addo, 2011). Formal education, a result of colonialism, radicalized the 

traditional values of the Africans and introduced some completely new ones. Mazrui (1980) 

puts it thus, "The colonial impact, transformed the natural basis of stratification in Africa." 

Instead of status based on, say, age, there emerged status based on literacy. Instead of classes 

emerging from the question, "Who owns what?" class formation now responds to the question, 

"Who knows what?”  

Elders are seen as both spiritual and moral guides who are endowed with wisdom; that is why 

it is said that “what an elder sees when he is seated, a child cannot see even when he is 

standing”. This respect is not only restricted to the elders within one’s area but to all elders, 

wherever they are met. It is in this regard that Nwako (2009) said that moral values are common 

to all Africans and that respect is given to elders irrespective of social status or position. We 

give them their due respect because they are the custodians of traditional norms and customs. In 

the Yoruba culture, prostration before an elder is a form of greeting, sometimes bowing and 

removal of caps are also signs of respect. And because of the place the African cultures give to 

elders, they must make time in the evenings to train the conscience of young men and women 

through proverbs, stories and folktales. Through this practice, virtues are learnt by African 

children from their childhood. 

Against the background of this great African value, a person is an individual to the extent that 

he is a member of a family, a clan or a community. Another great value in traditional Africa is 

Respect for old people (senior citizens), particularly one's parents, grandparents and relatives. 

Together with this value, one must also consider "ancestor worship" as an important related 

value in African culture. The basis for the honour and respect accorded to old people in the 

traditional African culture is their closeness to the ancestors, for in his ontological conceptual 

scheme the African places his old relatives closest to his ancestors or dead relatives in his great 

hierarchy of beings. The African teaching on respect for elders also has parallels in Christianity: 

“My son, hear the instruction of your father, and forsake not the law of your mother” (Prov. 



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1:8). “Honour your father and your mother that your days may be long upon the land which 

your Lord your God gives you” (Ex. 2:12). 

Africans conceive ‘humility’ as a wise policy which must be patronized at all times. It is 

therefore not surprising that many African proverbs and stories insist on humility. Proverbs 

such as “Bending down to a dwarf does not stop you from rising from your full height 

afterwards”; this proverb teaches that humility does not take away anything from anyone. “It 

is the water that doesn’t fill the pot that makes the most noise”, this proverb teaches that those 

who brag around are those who are empty or have nothing to offer. “The bird that imagines 

itself on the same level with the turkey would soon find itself on the grill”, this proverb teaches 

humility is a learning path. The same insistence on humility is also found in the Bible which 

teaches that: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). “Whoever shall 

exalt himself shall be abashed, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted” (Matt. 23:12). 

In the moral sphere  

Morality is another area where there is a considerable parallel between Christianity and African 

culture. This is probably because morality flows naturally from the religious creed and that 

man, in both the African and the Christian cultures, has a hereafter whose condition is 

determined by the quality of one's present life. According to African culture, to gain that 

hereafter as a place of comfort one must behave in ways consonant with the demands of the 

divinities and ancestors (Amucheazi, 1980).  

Amongst the Africans, there is respect for life; children are treasured and abortion is an 

abomination. The sacredness of human life is guarded by taboos and rituals. There is respect 

for the dignity of man; each man has his inalienable chi (destiny). Sin is perceived in both its 

personal and communal dimensions. Moderation in the use of alcohol is inculcated: only adults 

may drink. Drunkenness is shameful. Indeed moderation is required in every aspect of human 

behaviour. For Christianity, as for African culture, no human action or behaviour good or bad, 

escapes the vigilant attention of both God and the earth god, Ala respectively: they reward or 

punish man according to his actions, good or bad. Christianity and African Culture diverge 

from each other only in their choice of the instrument for the execution of the reward or 

punishment (Amucheazi, 1980; Kanu 2023).  

Africans believe that life comes from God, and as such has a transcendental dimension. The 

sacredness attached to life due to the designation of God as its source is evident in the names 

Igbo people give to their children: Chiwendu (God is the owner of life), Chikerendu (God made 

life), and as such in Igbo traditional society Igbu Ochu (murder) was the greatest abomination. 

To kill merited either capital punishment or total banishment from the community.  

To touch a person’s life, starkly put, to shed blood, especially innocent blood is 

the greatest evil on earth, against the earth and humanity. It is Nso Ala (taboo) 

that has the mightiest sanction in the world (Ireogbu, 1994: 84). 

The African values the whole of creation as sacred. To him, nature is neither uncanny nor for 

subjugation and exploitation, but something sacred, participating in the essential sacred nature 

of God Himself and all reality. Open spaces, fields, forests, trees, oceans and lakes are sacred 

to him and consequently important as places reminiscent of the ashes of his fathers and the 

sanctuaries of his gods. The African traditional religious life has always considered all life to 



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be the sphere of the Almighty, the powerful (the Otumfoo), and the Omnipotent (Gye Nyame). 

He is wise, and all seeing and all knowing. He is the Great Spider (Ananse Kokroko), and the 

Ancient of Days (Odomankoma) (Kanu 2020 & 2022).  

In the private and public life of the Africans, religious rites, beliefs and rituals are considered 

an integral part of life. Life then is never complete unless it is seen always in its entirety. 

Religious beliefs are found in everyday life and no distinction is made between the sacred and 

the secular. The sacred and the secular are merged in the total person of the individual African. 

Life is not compartmentalized. Thus, there are no special times for worship, for every day and 

every hour is worship time. There are no creeds written down because, through the traditions 

of the elders, all creeds and functions are carried in the individual's heart. Each individual by 

his very nature and lifestyle is a living creed from the time one rises until one retires at night.  

Life is therefore considered sacred and held in high esteem. Right from the womb, life is 

protected and the greatest joy of a family is the birth of a child. This is why Africans do all that 

is in their power to save lives, and whatever harms life is their greatest enemy. Issues like 

abortion and Euthanasia are foreign to African vocabulary. In the Christian Decalogue, there 

is also the instruction: “Thou shall not kill” (Ex. 20:13). 

Also fundamental to Africans, is the value of ‘honesty’, a man’s word is held in bond, 

especially when it pertains to affirmation or negation or is evidence themselves. For the 

African, “Judgment is based on confidence” (Achebe, 1958: 151). And because of the place 

honesty occupies in African life, some elders have conferred titles based on their truthfulness 

and their ability to dispense justice without fear or favour, and any injustice or unfairness 

destroyed confidence. The ontological foundation on which the African love for truth rests is 

the belief that truth is life. It is therefore not surprising that right from childhood, children are 

taught the value of honesty in stories and proverbs. Commenting on the values of honesty and 

sincerity in the African culture, Ireogbu said, 

Both were together the test of the inner and outer integrity. The Igbo put this 

ontological principle in the maxim: Eziokwu bu ndu (truth is life). In Igbo 

Ethical ontological praxis, not only in the moral sense is the utterance of truth a 

life affirmation. In the ontological order, the true is the living (1994: 27).  

 

CONCLUSION 

A comparative study of the developments and basic teachings of Christianity and African 

Traditional Religion reveals that there are several points of intersection between the two 

religions. This does not in any way mean that both religions are the same as there are several 

other points of divergences. However, the submission in this paper is that African traditional 

religion and Christianity have ethical and religious values in common. This is probably due to 

the argument of some scholars that morality flows naturally from religious creed. And from 

this understanding, one can conclude that for the African, Christianity is not something alien, 

but something which fulfilled what he already knew. There was already the seed of Christianity 

in African traditional thought even before the arrival of missionaries to Africa.   



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http://www.kahome.co.uk/ngonim.htm

