Before the missionaries came to Africa, the Africans knew there was a supreme creator and every ethnic group had faith in that invisible supernatural being. It was their religion and was marked by prayers of gratitude in times of plenty and prayers
of supplication in times of need. African traditional Religion is the only religion that can claim to have originated from Africa. Every other religion found in Africa have their origins in other parts of the world.
When missionaries landed in Kenyan coast, Muslim had already gained roots and it wasn't easy to convert the Africans who had already converted to Islam. Most people in the interior continent continued to practice their own religion up until 19th century. That is the time Christian missions to Africa increased driven by anti-slave crusade and the interests of Europeans wanting to colonize Kenya and Africa as a whole. The anti slaves campaign bore fruits as many of the slaves freed from the Arabs were baptized, thus becoming Christians. With the coming of the railway, it became easier for the missionaries to penetrate the interior and the gospel spread through the liberated slaves.
However, Christianity came with its own benefits including education, literacy and hope for the disadvantaged but it also paved way for Commercial speculators and denied people the pride of their culture and ceremonies. As I said earlier, religion has always been a way of life long before Christianity. They believed in a supreme power ruling over everything and everyone. This supreme power is the creator, who is all knowing and eternal, and was there in the beginning of time. It goes under many different names and it varies considerably from society to society as to how superior and supreme the power is.
I went back to history that far so we can walk together in getting to the root of the conflict that is there between the church and traditional religion converts. It is evident that Africans believed in one God, Creator of everything. Christians define God as the eternal being, who created and preserves all things. That is the same Traditional religion definition of God if not close to it. They worshiped him and gave sacrifices of precious gift for a number of reason which includes good fortune, thanksgiving and avoidance of disaster. In return, God would answer their prayers and believe me, life was sweet then. Of course I wasn't there but from the stories we hear from our grandparents, life was sweet and majority were strong believers of the supreme God. For example Kikuyu would go to pray under a Mugumo tree when drought and famine hit Kikuyu Land and Rain would fall right then. They carried banana leaves with them as they went to pray that they would use to protect themselves from getting wet on their way back.
Such stories of how faithful and near God was before Christianity turned us away from our faith, and other Christians turning churches into businesses are what has brought about the conflict. People have now started going back to their traditional beliefs but that has not been warmly welcomed by the church. It has got to a point of the church criminalizing traditional religions and warning their followers against these tradition teachings. Tradition religion leaders on the other hand have their way of defining Christianity, the bible and the church. They believe the Bible was an agreement between God and the Israelite. They believe that Christianity is the Israelite way of worship and that church was Israelite place of worship. However, they believe that God is one and he created Africans, placed them in their land and ordered them to worship him in the way our forefathers used to before the missionaries came. There was an agreement between our forefathers and God which was to be passed from generation to generation.
This fight is not ending soon as we have seen many church defectors following the traditional ways of worship especially the Kikuyu. There has been a rise in people wanting to know the truth about our traditions and doubting the new age preachers of Christianity. But the message is one; God is one and he lives. And that is the truth.
When missionaries landed in Kenyan coast, Muslim had already gained roots and it wasn't easy to convert the Africans who had already converted to Islam. Most people in the interior continent continued to practice their own religion up until 19th century. That is the time Christian missions to Africa increased driven by anti-slave crusade and the interests of Europeans wanting to colonize Kenya and Africa as a whole. The anti slaves campaign bore fruits as many of the slaves freed from the Arabs were baptized, thus becoming Christians. With the coming of the railway, it became easier for the missionaries to penetrate the interior and the gospel spread through the liberated slaves.
However, Christianity came with its own benefits including education, literacy and hope for the disadvantaged but it also paved way for Commercial speculators and denied people the pride of their culture and ceremonies. As I said earlier, religion has always been a way of life long before Christianity. They believed in a supreme power ruling over everything and everyone. This supreme power is the creator, who is all knowing and eternal, and was there in the beginning of time. It goes under many different names and it varies considerably from society to society as to how superior and supreme the power is.
I went back to history that far so we can walk together in getting to the root of the conflict that is there between the church and traditional religion converts. It is evident that Africans believed in one God, Creator of everything. Christians define God as the eternal being, who created and preserves all things. That is the same Traditional religion definition of God if not close to it. They worshiped him and gave sacrifices of precious gift for a number of reason which includes good fortune, thanksgiving and avoidance of disaster. In return, God would answer their prayers and believe me, life was sweet then. Of course I wasn't there but from the stories we hear from our grandparents, life was sweet and majority were strong believers of the supreme God. For example Kikuyu would go to pray under a Mugumo tree when drought and famine hit Kikuyu Land and Rain would fall right then. They carried banana leaves with them as they went to pray that they would use to protect themselves from getting wet on their way back.
Such stories of how faithful and near God was before Christianity turned us away from our faith, and other Christians turning churches into businesses are what has brought about the conflict. People have now started going back to their traditional beliefs but that has not been warmly welcomed by the church. It has got to a point of the church criminalizing traditional religions and warning their followers against these tradition teachings. Tradition religion leaders on the other hand have their way of defining Christianity, the bible and the church. They believe the Bible was an agreement between God and the Israelite. They believe that Christianity is the Israelite way of worship and that church was Israelite place of worship. However, they believe that God is one and he created Africans, placed them in their land and ordered them to worship him in the way our forefathers used to before the missionaries came. There was an agreement between our forefathers and God which was to be passed from generation to generation.
This fight is not ending soon as we have seen many church defectors following the traditional ways of worship especially the Kikuyu. There has been a rise in people wanting to know the truth about our traditions and doubting the new age preachers of Christianity. But the message is one; God is one and he lives. And that is the truth.
