AbstractThe Tigray region of Ethiopia converted to Christianity in the fourth century and became a very important ally of the Byzantine empire, ruled from Constantinople (Istanbul), in controlling the trade routes to India. Tigray also maintained contacts with other Christian communities of the eastern Mediterranean, including those in Syria and Egypt. The compelling images on this double-sided leaf are from a group of early fourteenth-century Gospels that feature a revival of motifs that reached Ethiopia from the eastern Mediterranean, probably in the seventh century. Both sides of the leaf are inscribed in Ge'ez, the ancient language of Ethiopia. On the front is a dramatic octagonal Fountain of Life flanked by peacocks, which are identified in the inscriptions as "ostriches" (royal birds in Ethiopia), and gazellelike "babula." The text within the domed space refers to the arrangement of the Eusebian Canon Tables, or index to the Gospels, which preceded the image in the original manuscript. On the reverse, the Crucifixion is represented by a monumental jeweled cross topped by a Lamb of God, symbol of Christ's sacrifice. At the sides are the two thieves bound to their crosses. Other leaves from this Gospel are in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm.

AbstractChristianity in Ethiopia is a multidimensional symbolic universe where the cross is one of the most central symbols. It is all-present as an item in religious practice, liturgy, religious architecture, and in the daily life of Christians. Its prominence is perhaps only surpassed by the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian veneration of the tabot, the container with the stone ‘replica’ of the Tablet (ts’elat) with the Ten Commandments that is present in every church and figures as the defining material symbol of the ‘covenant’ between God and (Christian) Ethiopia.

AbstractThe Bimbi cult in Southern Malawi is a territorial cult, one among a number of other regional belief systems among the Chewa of Southern Malawi. As a religious system the Bimbi cult has a distinctive unwritten theology, elaborate liturgical observances, an organized inherited priesthood and a charismatic leader - the Bimbi - from whom the cult's name derives. The thesis begins by examining the life and structural position of the Bimbi who is, in all aspects the most representative and living symbol of the cult as a moral force. It then looks into the question of the call to Bimbiship and the processes of succession events which are believed to be divine acts from beginning to end. This is evidenced by the fact that succession to Bimbiship cuts across the principles of matrilineage of succession to headmanship among the Chewa. The third chapter of the thesis discusses the religious, shrine and political organizations of the cult which give it its territorial nature and enhance both the legitimacy of the Bimbi and the impact of the cult in the region. The fourth, fifth and sixth chapters set forth to answer the questions, "what is the faith and prayer of the cult?" and "how do the followers understand God, the social and the natural orders in the universe?" To this purpose the thesis examines the rituals, prayers, symbolisms, beliefs and practices of those who adhere to the cult. The seventh chapter of the thesis probes into what is remembered of the earlier history of the cult and the role which the title holders of Bimbiship have played for the past hundred years. Finally an attempt has been made to examine the nature of the interaction between the cult on the one hand and Christianity and Islam on the other.

AbstractEven when the temple was devastated and in ruins, sacrifice was the esse of the cultus of Israel. Either it was offered in complexity in the temple or the language of sacrifice pervaded Hebrew thought in both Old and New Testaments. Sacrifice was the outward relationship of Israel to Yahweh and was the expression and seal of the Covenant. The twelve prophetic writings date from different periods. They either encourage Israel to present sacrifices to God, or they attack the worship of other deities through sacrifice. When genuine Hebrew sacrifices appear to be attacked the aim of the prophet is not to abolish them but to redress the balance between honouring Yahweh in outward observance and keeping his Covenant in the moral and ethical life of the Hebrew community. Israel must relate to God by bringing sacrifices to him alone and by observing his laws.

AbstractSacrifice as an integral part of the traditional people of Nigeria has been represented in Nigerian drama by different playwrights who have displayed diverse approaches, ideological stance and attitudes to the practice in their plays. The essay, through a study of selected Nigerian plays discovers that varied use of the term abound in Nigerian plays and that the obsolescent culture of ritual sacrifice of human beings has given way to self-sacrifice which may not necessarily include the termination of life. Self-sacrifice involves the giving up of one’s right, possession, benefit or even life and this is the trope that pervades the majority of modern Nigerian plays and may eventually replace human sacrifice which has gone out of public practice in real life. The treatment of these two modes of sacrifice is done in tandem with another two; the Christ sacrifice and animal sacrifice. The paper observes the issue of unwillingness on the part of the carriers as a major factor in the obliteration of human sacrifice and concludes that there is a already a shift in the focus of Nigerian writers on the issue of human sacrifice.

AbstractFirst edition published in 1938.

AbstractEditor’s Note: This excerpt from the writings of Kwame Bediako is taken from Jesus and the Gospel in Africa: History and Experience (Orbis Books: Maryknoll, 2004, pp. 22–33) and reprinted by permission

AbstractIn this article I propose an approach to sacrifice through notions of time, memory and expectation, moving away from classical formalist definitions that highlight the ‘nature and function’ of sacrifice, and into ideas of meaning and experience and their insertion in particular ideologies of time. I will argue that sacrifice entails particular temporalities, participating in political and experiential realms of memory and expectation. For this, I will invoke a particular regime of sacrifice: the notion of self-sacrifice, as it circulates among a prophetic and messianic Christian movement of Angolan origin, the Tokoist Church.

AbstractThis Video is Uploaded For Christian, Biblical And Educational Use Only, Not For Any Monetary Benefits. 2006 Hillsong Conference, Sydney - Australia. http://www.yourlivingmanna.com Android App http://www.android.yourlivingmanna.com #yourlivingmanna #manna_tv

AbstractAlthough the practice of human sacrifice is not new in the mythology around sacrifice in Africa, the practice of child mutilation and sacrifice at least in Uganda was just spoken about as fairytale. However events that have unraveled since the late 1990s have shocked the country with real cases of children being mutilated and killed in the context of what is commonly referred to as child sacrifice in Uganda. This paper presents the "African" meaning of the concept sacrifice and how demonstrates how the in African religious theology disassociates itself from murder and mutilation of children's body parts as part of the rituals for healing, dealing misfortunes or even prevention of unfortunate events. There was consensus from our study participants that although historically, there has been human and child sacrifice in the African and Uganda cultural mythology, the actual practice of these vices is a new phenomenon, not recognized and accepted in indigenous/traditional religious theo

AbstractIn the Global North, the notion of “sacrifice” is highly controversial in contemporary discussion. In recent years, the influential work of René Girard has succeeded in putting sacrifice back on the intellectual agenda, but his story of sacrifice has primarily emphasised the theme of violence. Today, many theologians consider sacrifice inherently problematic and some would like to do away with it altogether. In Africa, however, the notion is highly popular across a wide range of theological traditions. The work of three African theologians – John Ekem, a Ghanaian mother-tongue biblical scholar, Edison Kalengyo, a Ugandan inculturation theologian, and Mercy Oduyoye, a Ghanaian women’s theologian – challenge Girard’s theory in three important ways. First, they challenge his traditional typological approach with a dialogical typological one. Second, they challenge his focus on violence by highlighting multiple themes. Third, they challenge his lack of an ecclesial dimension with fresh ways of appropriating Jesus’ sacrifice today.

AbstractThe Religious System of the Amazulu Izinyanga Zokubula;or,Divination,as existing amongthe Amazulu,in their own wordswith a translation into English,and notesbyThe Rev. Canon Callaway, M.D. copyright 1870 Text in English and Zulu. From this edition:"This book was originally issued in parts, No. i. to iii. having been completed. Nothing further than this was ever issued and the volume therefore remains unfinished. On the cover of the last part issued was the following paragraph, which shows how much has been lost by the non-issue of the fourth part:--   "It was intended to conclude this Volume with the Part now issued; but it appeared that the subject would be incomplete without adding a Part on Medical Magic and Witchcraft, which accordingly will form the subject of Part IV.  Whether I shall be able to do more than complete this Volume, or even to complete it, must depend on the interest taken in the work by others. If they do not exert themselves to increase its circulation it must be discontinued, as it is probable the Government grant will be withdrawn during or at the end of the year." All the copies remaining unsold were presented to the FOLK-LORE SOCIETY (for distribution to the members) by the Author, the Right Reverend the Bishop of St. John's, Kaffraria (Dr. Callaway). The Council ordered an index to be prepared, which will no doubt prove of considerable use to students, and make the Society's volume of greater value than those already in circulation. The volume is issued as one of the publication for the year 1884. G. L. GOMME." ----- From the Sacred Texts website: The Religious System of the Amazulu  "This book is composed of a series of interviews conducted by Callaway with Zulu informants, of which only the answers of the natives to Callaway's questions are usually given. As such, it is made up primarily of prose explanations of concepts and ideas that Callaway, a more or less sympathetic English missionary, found to be of interest. There are no sacred narratives, transcriptions of ceremonies, or anything else of that nature, although the book is still interesting, and in many ways more informative than it might be otherwise.  In the book, the Zulu originals are presented in parallel columns alongside the English translations.  ...please be aware that this book cuts off in mid-sentence at the end. We have checked a number of copies of this book and the card catalogs for the British Library and the Library of Congress, and this is apparently the way that the book was printed, and not just an error in the copy used for scanning or with this edition." [source: http://www.sacred-texts.com/afr/rsa/note.htm] ---- Henry Callaway (1817 - 1890) was a missionary for the Church of England and bishop of St John's, Kaffraria, in the Church of the Province of Southern Africa.   In 1858, he was granted land near the Umkomazi...and he began his study of the Zulu people, their religious beliefs and other customs and obtained the information which enabled him to write his books "Nursery Tales", "Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus" (published in 1868) and "The Religious System of the Amazulu" (published in 1870). He also translated the "Book of Psalms" and the "Book of Common Prayer" into the Zulu language. [source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Callaway] The Zulu (amaZulu) are a Bantu ethnic group of Southern Africa and the largest ethnic group in South Africa, with an estimated 10–12 million people living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal.  [source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zulu_people] ---- Contents: Unkulunkulu; or, the Tradition of Creation as Existing among the Amazulu and other tribes of South Africa.  Utikxo  The Lord of Heaven Part II. Amatongo; or, Ancestor Worship.  Ukwaba equivalent to Create.  The people do not worship all Amatongo indifferently.  The Amatongo are felt in the Shoulders.  The Amatongo reveal Medicines, &c, in dreams.  A man's Itongo resembles him in character.  A Doctor of Medicine deceived by the Itongo.  How the Amatongo are worshipped.  The mode of slaughtering a Bullock.  Laying the Spirit of Divination.  How to distinguish Snakes which are Amatongo from common Snakes.  Men turn into many kinds of Animals.  The order in which the Amatongo are worshipped.  Tale of an Imamba.  Removing from one country to another.  Royal Attendants.  Izalukazana (Isalukazana)  Crying at the Holes from which Medicines have been dug.  Sneezing.  Vows to Sacrifice to the Amatongo.  Dreams, &c.  The Amatongo make revelations by Dreams.  Ecstasy and Dreams.  Uguaise's Dream.  Subjective Appartitions.  Inkasazana (Princess or Little Chieftainess). Part III. Izinyanga Zokubula; or, Diviners.  The Initiation of a Diviner.  The Doctor of Divination, the Isanusi, Ibuda, or Umungoma.  The Diviner mistaken.  The Account of Ukanzi.  Consulting the Diviner.  To bar the way against the Amatongo and against disease supposed to be occasioned by them.  Divining with Sticks and Bones.  Magical Practices.  Other modes of divining.  Chiefs divine.  The Chief's Vessel.  Divining by Familiar Spirits.  Another account.  Heaven-Doctors, &c.  Heaven-herds (Sky-herds). Rain-doctors.  The Sky, Sun, Moon, and Stars.  The SUn, Moon, and Stars.  The Male and Female Heavens.  The Smiting of the Heaven.  Treating the Heaven.  Heaven-Medicine.  The Insingizi and Ingqungqulu.  Magical Songs. Part IV. Abatakati; or, Medical Magic, and Witchcraft.  The Strength of Medicines.  It is difficult to drink out of the Cup of a Chief.  The Magic of Ufaku.  Intelezi.  Intelezi for Soldiers.  The Bird-doctor. Index.

AbstractA June 29 prayer service at Holy Family Church in New York City not only recalled the sacrifices of African martyrs in church history but also paid tribute to those who have died recently for their faith.

AbstractCet article est le second d'une série de trois. L'étude des maisons mbari des Ibo examine la forme et la richesse du symbolisme de la maison enfin terminée ("Mbari is Life", African Arts/Arts d'Afrique, Printemps 1969). Elle passe alors à une discussion des activités rituelles et de la construction proprement dite qui précèdent les cérémonies d'inauguration du mbari. Vu de l'intérieur du système des valeurs Ibo, il est évident que le processus de l'édification qui les entoure s'avère plus important que l'aspect formal des mbari.

AbstractVembe, 2004. The slaughtering of a sacrificial animal (in this case an ox), for use as an offering of the delegation who request mediation from the priestess. Often the animal is black, symbolizing black clouds that bring rain. Some portions are kept and consumed by the priestess and her family.

Abstract‘Gologotha’ was created in 1963 by Gebre Kristos Desta in Abstract Expressionism style.

AbstractThe Binding Project is an ongoing multi-disciplinary project that engages with the psychological and social implications of the story of the Aqedah (the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham). Core to this engagement is an exploration of the complex traversing of space as an artist and a mother - distance is required as observer/artist and closeness needed as a mother in relation to my son. The first iteration, an installation, The Binding, was exhibited in 2010. This installation is now in the collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Working collaboratively with other artists and writers, additional elements to the project have been developed in conversation with the original installation. The project now includes video footage, an academic essay, short stories, limited edition Artist’s Books, relief sculptures, and the latest editions to the project, an ultra-violet digital print, and an original musical score for the video component of the project.

AbstractLes Animaux Dans le Symbolisme Religieux des Lele. La vie religieuse chez les Lele est organisée au moyen de divers groupes cultuels, et l'admission à ces groupes s'effectue par l'initiation ou par des moyens surnaturels. Les buts primaires de tous ces cultes sont la fécondité et le succès dans la chasse. Les membres du groupe des procréateurs, qui ont procréé des enfants des deux sexes, sont éligibles pour admission au culte du pangolin, le seul où l'animal soit l'objet du culte. Dans d'autres cultes, des parties de certains animaux sont réservées aux initiés ou, dans certains cas, des parties de certains animaux (ou même l'animal tout entier) leur sont défendues. Bien que des animaux différents soient associés par tradition avec les divers cultes, les Lele offrent très peu d'explications du symbolisme impliqué. Il est possible, néanmoins, d'envisager leurs idées dans un cadre compréhensif de suppositions concernant les animaux et les êtres humains et de déceler les divers groupes cultuels comme des développements complémentaires d'un seul thème fondamental. Les Lele reconnaissent des distinctions bien définies entre les êtres humains et les animaux, dont la première, celle de la conduite contrôlée, témoigne de la supériorité de l'humanité. Les animaux, cependant, possèdent un avantage sur les humains du fait de leur fécondité immense, et l'incantation employée dans les rites de fécondité fait allusion à cette caractéristique. La troisième caractéristique déterminative des animaux est leur acceptation de leur domaine dans l'ordre naturel. Ceux qui s'écartent du comportement typiquement animal sont considérés comme étant en partie humains, et des espèces toutes entières, qui sont éloignées d'un tel comportement, sont reconnues, bien que certaines d'entre elles ne peuvent pas être classées par les moyens habituels. Certains animaux, tels que les polatouches et les tortues, sont évités, surtout par les femmes enceintes, parce qu'ils leur semblent anormaux; d'autres sont considérés comme répugnants, ou sont parmi les animaux associés avec les esprits. Les créatures aquatiques, telles que les crocodiles, appartiennent à cette dernière catégorie, mais il n'est pas évident dans quel sens quelques animaux tellement différents, qui sont ainsi classés, sont en effet des esprits. En général, on fuit les créatures qui se comportent d'une façon bizarre ou singulière, leur bizarrerie étant considérée comme une raison suffisante pour cette interdiction. Il est évident, d'après leur façon d'en faire la description, que le pangolin, avec son corps écailleux qui ressemble à celui d'un poisson, sa queue et ses quatre jambes, est considéré par les Lele comme étant anormal et le fait de mettre bas ses petits un à la fois, comme les êtres humains, est suffisamment exceptionnel pour le faire distinguer des autres animaux. Le rapport entre le pangolin et la fécondité n'est pas nettement exprimé, mais la connexion symbolique entre l'eau et la fécondité fournit peut-être un indice, car le pangolin possède certaines des caractéristiques des animaux aquatiques. Le pangolin paraît se trouver dans la même situation envers les êtres humains que les parents de jumeaux envers les animaux, car malgré le fait qu'il est repréhensible d'être classé avec les animaux sous tout autre rapport, il est louable d'être leurs rivaux en fécondité, et les parents de jumeaux sont considérés comme ayant été choisis spécialement par les esprits pour agir en médiateurs entre les humains, les animaux et les esprits. La chasse est l'endroit où les trois domaines se rencontrent et elle a une grande signification dans la vie religieuse des Lele. Si la chasse n'est pas fructueuse, on croit que les autres entreprises contrôlées par les esprits pourraient, également, échouer ou pourraient être contrariées par la sorcellerie. Le rôle du pangolin, en tant que médiateur entre les domaines humain et animal, se manifeste dans la description de diverses chasses véritables, car l'on croit que tuer et manger cette créature avec les observances rituelles appropriées apporte des animaux au chasseur et des enfants aux femmes.

AbstractThe Letter to the Romans presents a very interesting case study of atonement. In Rom. 3.25a, Jesus is portrayed as the one whom God `put forward' as ίλαστήριoν διά [τnς] πιστεως έν τω αύτou α~ματι… The exact meaning of ίλαστήρ ιoν in relation to the rest of the text is a subject of controversy among scholars. The article argues that it would be legitimate to interpret ίλαστήρ ιoν as `a revelatory means of atonement' and that Paul makes creative use of his thorough acquaintance with the Jewish scriptures to reinterpret ίλαστήρ ιoν from a Christological perspective. But the article goes beyond a traditional exegetical investigation to discuss the subject in relation to hermeneutical insights derived from selected translations of the Bible into some key European and Ghanaian languages. In this regard, the article employs the method of `dialogical exegesis' which embarks on dialogue between the biblical text, together with its embedded world-views, and these European/Ghanaian translations that reflect the world-views of their authors and target audiences. The article finally suggests ways in which the outcome of this investigation can enhance the preparation of context-sensitive Study Bible Notes and Commentaries in a Ghanaian/African setting.

AbstractThis edition updates the scholarship on ancestor worship-with the addition of three new chapters. The book serves as an invaluable resource for those interested in African religion and symbolic representation and praxis of ancestor worship. The study examines Akan conception of God, the abosom, religious symbols, and annual festivities.

AbstractA man cuts the throat of a tethered sheep whilst another holds it leg, with other men looking on beyond. A large hammer lies discarded in the foreground after being used to knock in the tethering peg. Castrated sheep and goats were frequently used in sacrifice in place of oxen, with particular care taken to note the way the beast falls, since this may indicate the success or potential failure of the sacrificial purpose. Evans-Pritchard describes having witnessed a Lou sheep sacrifice at Yakwach for a girl possessed by a lion-spirit, a cow also being dedicated to the spirit to placate it.

AbstractThe main purpose of this study is to explore the relevant avenues of inculturating the eucharistic sacrifice in the traditional religion of the Akans of Ghana. The author has established that in both the Akan Religion and Christianity rituals play a central role in giving utterance to one's experience, belief and expectation. In both religions the worshippers seek to rectify the human predicament--sin and death--through sacrifice. The Akans no less than Christians consider the death of the sacrificial victim vicarious. Through the blood of the victim, that is, Jesus for Christians and animals for Akans, sinful humanity is reconciled with the Deity, who restores life to the sinner or gives him or her a promise of life beyond the grave. Moreover, both the Akan and the Christian seek to enter into communion with the Deity through sacrifice. Indeed, the author has also noted many other similarities between the Akan and Christian concepts of sacrifice, so that the purpose of this study--to inculturate the eucharistic sacrifice into the ethnic religion--is justified. These similarities provide the common ground for dialogue between Christianity and the Akan religion. In the final analysis the author maintains: The celebration and doctrine of the Eucharist are part and parcel of the Church's mission of evangelization. One could therefore see inculturation of the Eucharist into Akan culture as a process of evangelization. However, as religion constitutes the life-blood of Akan culture, evangelization cannot be achieved without bringing the Akan religion and culture into the spotlight of the Gospel. In fact, the Akan notion of sacrifice--entering into a covenant relationship with the Deity through the blood of a sacrificial victim, reconciliation and communion with the Deity and neighbour--is very much related to the Christian concept of sacrifice. Evangelization apropos of inculturation may therefore enable the Akan to see the ancestral beliefs in the light of Christ's mystery. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

AbstractIn sum, this thesis reasserts the 'realism' of the early Fathers and attempts at putting the language of metaphor and 'spiritualization', in the right perspective with regard to the use of sacrificial concept. The theological and hermeneutical development of the early Eucharist is examined in its temporal and environmental context, taking into account the beginning and evolution of Christianity as seen within its religio-cultural cradle, and its gradual growth towards a 'religious autonomy.' This leads to the conclusion that the Eucharist evolved from ordinary meals rooted in hospitality, into becoming a 'functional equivalent' to the traditional sacrificial rituals. It, therefore, came to serve a practical function fulfilling a requisite ritual dimension on the 'new' religion. This historical approach, throws light onto some matters of theological development. The Eucharist and the death of Christ must have independently acquired sacrificial interpretations in the first instance. The final connection between the sacrifice of the cross and that of the Eucharist as a result of theologising, which may, in the case of the latter, at first only unreflectively drew on traditional repertoire including cultic concept such as anamnesis and communion, and then slowly gained a firm place as it increasingly came to be seen in the light of Calvary. This particular hermeneutic that found a key in the Christ-event for the understanding of all Christian activities, also saw the Eucharist emerge as central to the early Christians' comprehension of the mysteries of divine salvation. The salvific value of the Eucharist, as the 'medicine of immortality' (Ignatius) or as a 'means to resurrection' (Irenaeus), lies, not in its essence as a sacrifice, but in its relationship with other means of salvation including the sacrifice of Christ. Its efficacy is not on any opus operatum basis, but as an essential constituent of a complex networking, what we have called, the opus reticulatum, meaning the sum total of the given modus operandi of the whole divine economy of salvation.

Abstract1. Sacrifice -- 2. The sacrificial crisis -- 3. Oedipus and the surrogate victim -- 4. The origins of myth and ritual (discusses sacred monarchy in Africa) -- 5. Dionysus -- 6. From mimetic desire to the monstrous double -- 7. Freud and the Oedipus complex -- 8. Totem and Taboo and the incest prohibition -- 9. Levi-Strauss, structuralism, and marriage laws -- 10. The gods, the dead, the sacred, and sacrificial substitution -- 11. The unity of all rites -- Conclusion

AbstractAcross the past twenty years major change has taken place in the structure of global society with respect to the nature of migration. The predominant pattern sire at least the eighteenth century had been for peoples to move to and settle in Western countries permanently, with relatively little substantive interchange with thier former homelands, hence adopting the modes of articulation characteristic Of their new societies (a process expressed with respect to the USA, for example, as 'Americanization'). This pattern has now changed, and there is considerable interaction between homeland and migrant peoples. One of the places where this has become especially important is in religious exchanges between Africa and the West. While some negative effects of this process may grab headlines, there have also been extensive positive interactions, not least among African peoples, especially with respect to pentecostal and allied religious movements. The chapters in this book illustrate the variety of these exchanges. -- James V. Spickard is Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Redlands, where he teaches social research Methods. He has written widely on the changing role of religion in the contemporary world. -- Afe Adogame is Assistant Professor in the Religious Studies Department/Center for the Study of World Christianity, University of Edinburgh, where he teaches Religions in Africa and the Diaspora. He has published extensively on the nexus between religion, migration, and globalization. --Book Jacket.

Abstract"The Roho or Holy Spirit churches of Nyanza Province in western Kenya spring from a charismatic Christian movement that emerged among the Luo during the colonial era. In Women of Fire and Spirit, Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton uses oral histories and life narratives of active Roho participants, giving them full voice in constructing the history of their movement. In doing so, she counter-balances the existing historical literature, which draws heavily on colonial records. Hoehler-Fatton's sources call into question the paradigm of "schism" that has dominated the discussion of African independent Christianity. Faith, rather than schism or politics, emerges here as the hallmark of Roho religion. Hoehler-Fatton's book is doubly unusual in emphasizing the role of women in the evolution and expansion of the Roho Church. She traces the gradual transformation of women's involvement from the early years when - drawing on indigenous models of female spirit possession - women acted as soldiers and pastors, to the present condition of Western-style institutionalization and limited leadership opportunities for women. Today's Roho women, nevertheless, find fulfillment in their work as healers and continue to draw inspiration from the defiance of past heroines." - Jacket

Abstract1. Social-Scientific Interpretation of Ritual -- 2. The Logic of Sacrifice -- 3. Sacrifice and Descent -- 4. Creating Descent through Fathers and Sons -- 5. Ashanti Sacrifice -- 6. Hawaiian Sacrifice -- 7. Sacrifice, Descent, and the Patriarchs -- 8. Sacrifice and Social Structure in Christianity -- 9. Theories of Sacrifice -- 10. Conclusion

AbstractA Congo Chronicle: Patrice Lumumba in Urban Art presents popular paintings depicting the dramatic political career of Patrice Lumumba, the father of Congo independence who became the nation's first Prime Minister in 1960.

AbstractThere is no more urgent theological task than to provide an account of hope in Africa, given its endless cycles of violence, war, poverty, and displacement. So claims Emmanuel Katongole, an innovative theological voice from Africa. In the midst of suffering, Katongole says, hope takes the form of "arguing" and "wrestling" with God. Such lament is not merely a cry of pain—it is a way of mourning, protesting, and appealing to God. As he unpacks the rich theological and social dimensions of the practice of lament in Africa, Katongole tells the stories of courageous Christian activists working for change in East Africa and invites readers to enter into lament along with them. --

AbstractAn investigation of Gikuyu social organisation, ritual and cosmology reveals that prayer and sacrifice form a central phenomenon in Gikuyu religion. Traditionally the occasion and place to perform a sacrifice were both decided upon by njama (sacrificial council of elders). Any sacrificial decision was always a corporate one. Without a corporate decision in favour of sacrifice it meant that no family, territorial or general social prayers activity would have taken place. This work is therefore concerned to demonstrate how with the erosion and change of Gikuyu social infrastructure within which corporate sacrificial and prayer decisions were made and exercised, sacrifice and prayer have been adapted in Gikuyu christianity. There were different types of prayer as well as different occasions and a variety of reasons dictating when, where and why a specific prayer was necessary. Certain prayers, mainly family or social ones had specific persons allowed to say them. Predominantly men said all public or family prayers and offered sacrifices. Prayer and sacrifice were integral aspects of each other. An effort is made to present the relation between Gikuyu traditional religion and prayer practice and Gikuyu Christianity practice of prayer. An attempt is made at a broader definition and deeper description of Gikuyu sacrifices. This is done with reference to biblical sacrifices as well as some other African societies.

AbstractThis article addresses the general problem of beginning in human thought and action. It argues for complementing the emphasis on transition in the analysis of ritual with attention to beginning and for supplementing the relative passivity of liminality with the resoluteness of initiating action, while also attending to both the transitive and intransitive aspects of beginning itself. Drawing from representations of the foundation of a Sakalava monarchy in Madagascar, the article presents sacrifice as an exemplary form of beginning. Describing sacrifice in this manner obviates the need for any theory of sacrifice while offering new insights on the gift, ethical personhood, and the temporality of tradition.

AbstractThe Closing Ceremony continues with ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’, the Eucharistic prayer and institution, the Lord’s Prayer, ‘The Lamb of God’, and ‘Dona Nobis Pacem.

AbstractThe palimpsest of Ethiopian Christianity reveals the impact and influence of several hands: Judaic, Egyptian, and Syrian. The origins of Ethiopian Christianity are uncertain; early proselytisers may have found traces of paganism; of Christianity derived from the Ethiopian eunuch’s encounter with Philip; and of Judaic religion adopted, according to Ethiopia’s national epic, the Kəbra Nagaśt, a millennium before Christ. The apparent imprint of pre Christian Judaic religion in Ethiopia is epitomised by the devotion to the Ark of the Covenant, or tābot. Syriac influence arrived much later, conveyed by Syrian missionaries between the fourth and the sixth centuries CE whose activities cemented Ethiopia’s staunch miaphysite position. This thesis investigates the influence of Syrian Christianity upon the trajectory of Ethiopian Christianity, proposing that many of the so-called ‘Judaic’ practices may have arisen through interaction with Judaeo-Christian Syriac Christianity, rather than being directly derived from an Old Testament context as proposed by Edward Ullendorff. To do so, it explores the links between Ethiopic and Syrian literature using Ge’ez, Amharic and Syriac literary sources to show how Syrian imagery shaped Ethiopic traditions. The Ethiopic texts, each with origins in the sixth century, encompass the hymnody or Dəggwā of St Yared, the andəmtā Bible commentaries, and the Kəbra Nagaśt. The works of the seminal fourth century Syriac theologian-poet Ephrem, his later devotee Jacob of Serugh, and the earlier Syriac Odes of Solomon represent the Syrian trajectory. From the rich repertoire of symbols contained within these works, three have been specifically selected: the Ark and the Cross, as well as the perception of Paradise. The wealth of material common to both Ethiopic and Syriac literature demonstrates the complexity of the Judaeo-Christian thought-worlds from which they derived, implying more nuanced influences than have been previously been postulated.

AbstractI. Native customs and beliefs.--II. Mission life

AbstractIn this article, I argued that the performances of the ritual sacrifice of burning the heifer [isitshisa] and worship, held annually at Mlazi in Durban by the members of the Corinthian Church of South Africa, has social implications. Not only does the ritual worship enhance religious bonds of affinity amongst the Corinthians, it also instils in them the values of sharing, cooperation and care for those in need in the community, for example the blind; thus, isitshisa acts as a resource that empowers the Corinthians for social commitment and action in their community.

AbstractSince time immemorial, human beings the world over have sought answers to the vexing questions of their origins, sickness, death and after death; the meaning of natural phenomena such as earthquakes, eclipses of the sun and moon, birth of twins etc. and how to protect themselves from such mysterious events. They invented God and gods and the occult sciences (witch craft, divination and soothsaying) in order to seek the protection of supernatural powers while individuals used them to gain power to dominate others and to accumulate wealth. Human sacrifice was one way in which they sought to expiate the gods for what they believed were punishments for their transgressions. One example, the Ghana Asante Kingdom's very origins are associated with human sacrifice. On the eve of war against Denkyira, individuals volunteered themselves to be sacrificed in order to guarantee victory. Later, human sacrifice in Asante was mainly politically motivated as kings and religious leaders offered human sacrifice in remembrance of their ancestral spirits and to seek their protection against their enemies. The Asante Kingdom is one of several examples included in this study of human sacrifice and ritual killing on the African continent. Case studies include practices in Sierra Leone, Tanzania (Mainland), Zanzibar, Uganda and Swaziland. Advertisements relating to the occult was a common feature of Drum magazine, the popular South African magazine in Southern, Eastern and Central Africa in late years of colonial and early years of postcolonial periods, indicating a wide belief in these practices among the people in these countries? Each case examined is introduced by an expose of folklore that puts in perspective beliefs in the supernatural and how folklore continues to perpetuate them. Through careful study of these select cases, this book highlights general features of human sacrifice which recur with striking uniformity in all parts of sub Saharan Africa, and why they persist until today. He draws upon extensive written sources to expose these practices in other cultures including those in Western societies.

AbstractThis film explores spirit possession in the healing complex of the Tumbuka speaking peoples of northern Malawi. The program focuses on healers called nchimi who employ elements of Christianity and traditional spirit beliefs in the medical practice creating a syncretic form of religious healing.

AbstractThe Christ in majesty standing above the altar recapitulates the offering of the whole world and all of humanity in the sacrifice of the cross. At the foot of Christ crucified stand the martyrs of Uganda: they are the image of all those people in Africa who have united the sacrifice of their lives to that of Christ crucified. The cross rises up out of a cosmic background of cruciform patterns (the four points of the compass), of sun and moon motifs (circles and crescents) and triangular and diamond shapes, symbols of fertility and life. The whole is in three fundamental colours: red the colour of life, black the colour of suffering, and white the colour of death. Thus Africa, mankind and the whole cosmos are evoked and comprised in the vast gesture of Christ on the cross: ‘Father into thy hands I commend my breath of life.’ But the splendour and majesty of this cross sings the paschal triumph of the resurrection: ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.’

AbstractIn this dissertation, the researcher discusses the topic: The Communicative Power of Sacrifices: A Predominantly South African Perspective with Special Reference to the Epistle to the Hebrews'. It investigates blood sacrifices among Xhosa people, and includes some Zulu and Tsonga thoughts, as well as a few examples from elsewhere in Africa. The research findings support the fact that both animal and human blood sacrifices are still performed today. The comparison between biblical blood sacrificial rituals and African ones reveals striking similarities and a few differences. The existence of such similarities poses a pertinent question: to determine whether or not African traditional religious sacrifices, like biblical sacrifices, could also be acknowledged as originating from God. This seems indeed difficult, because such an affirmation would suggest that God has revealed Himself through African traditional religious sacrificial rituals, and would therefore call into question the unique and exclusive biblical claim to revelation. Neyrey's (2005) model of benefactor-client, benefactor-patron has been instrumental in illustrating the mutually influential communication and exchange existing between deities and their worshippers. In order to obtain benefactions from superiors, subordinates have to use inducement and influence - inducement has to do with all sorts of gifts and services, while influence refers to reasons for doing what one does, hence requests, petitions and the like. In religious terms, inducement is called sacrifice, and influence is called prayer. The intensification of the materialisation of anticipated benefits by worshippers entails the multiplication of interactive contact through blood sacrificial rituals, as well as the strengthening of ties between deities and their worshippers, creating a seemingly unbreakable bond. The results of this study's qualitative, empirical research in Gauteng, Kwazulu-Natal and North West provinces have substantiated the above ideas. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, the communicative power of the blood sacrifice of Jesus provided worshippers with eternal salvation, forgiveness of sins and the removal of guilt feelings. Unlike Old Testament animal blood sacrifices, Jesus' once and for all blood sacrifice has communicated powers for soteriological, psychological and sociological benefits. This superior power should be scholarly defended through amicable dialogue.

AbstractThis landmark volume, the first of two, assesses the prospects and promise of Lutheran theology at the opening of a new millennium. From four continents, the thirty noted and respected contributors not only gauge how such classic themes as grace, the cross, and justification wear today but also look to key issues of ecumenism, social justice, global religious life, and the impact of contemporary science on Christian belief.

AbstractThis paper traces the trajectory of sacrifice as a soteriological paradigm in biblical history and extrapolates its thrust to the modern problem of ecological deterioration. The paper argues that the ecological problem is caused by the loss of a sense for the necessity of sacrifice for life in modernity. Nature and society are expected to sacrifice for individual gratification without the right to demand sacrifices in return. While God, the source of the reality which sustains us, is willing to sacrifice so that we can live, he invites us to participate in his sacrifice to make the life of nature and society possible.

AbstractMusic video by Bernice Offei performing 'Mogya'. (C) 2014. Media Excel

AbstractNation states are analogous to human beings; they are conceived and are born after an appropriate gestation period. Thereafter, their parents and well-wishers watch them with keen interest as they grow from infancy to adolescence in the hope that the young nations will survive to mature old age. Unfortunately, sometimes tragedy befalls the nations and they teeter on the brink of collapse. Such is the misfortune of the nation, which is portrayed in Sunset at Dawn, a historical novel that is based on the Nigeria/Biafra civil war. Like a human being, the nation state of Nigeria was conceived during the Berlin conference of 1884/85. It was at this meeting that various European states allocated to themselves portions of the continent of Africa as their colonies. In this manner, Britain was allotted the territory that she later named Nigeria. The gestation period lasted 29 years, that is, from 1885 to 1914, during which time Britain ruled the Northern and Southern sections (protectorates) of Nigeria as separate entities. The date of birth of Nigeria as a nation state was 1914, since that was the year when the British colonial government amalgamated the two protectorates into one entity. Yet, the colonial government did not institute one administrative system for the entire nation. Rather, it administered the two units differently. In the South, it encouraged Christian missionaries to establish churches and schools as Westernizing influences, while in the North it established a system of indirect rule that operated through the existing feudal organization.

AbstractThe African Church grapples with practical issues relating o its ability to survive rather than abstract theological matters. Most of the Africans feel more prone to be attacked by evil forces than to commit evil acts. The solution is found in the protective force of the blood of Jesus. This popular theology is sweeping like wildfire across denominational lines in our land. People pray and cover various objects with the blood of Christ as protection against demonic attacks, epidemics, natural disasters, accidents and other suchlike experiences. Does the blood of Christ have a physical and material protection? Does Scripture support prayer for the blood of Christ to protect against perceived enemies and dangers? In whose authority do we challenge is it in the blood or in the name of Jesus? Dr. Olarewaju in this article addresses these questions.

AbstractThere is a mystery of the Blood. In the Land of Egypt God used the Blood as the last card to rescue the Children of Israel from Bondage. Subscribe to this channel for more life Impacting Sermons....God bless you.

AbstractThe practice of sacrifices to the ancestors is still prevalent among some African Christians and it is inspired by various factors such as religious considerations or political aspirations through African renaissance. Furthermore, scholars argue as to whether this practice of sacrifices to the ancestors is Biblical or not. This article aims to determine that, from Hebrews, the demise of Old Testament sacrifices brings an end to ancestral sacrifice.

AbstractIn common with other eastern Bantu peoples Kuria kill animals ritually without that killing being seen as an offereing to a deity. A discussion of what such a killing entails reflects on theories of sacrifice but serves also to establish a non-sacrificial form of ritual killing. In the latter it is not the life of the animal that is at issue but rather the life in the animal. The ritual use of the stomach contents of chyme is diacritical, for this is taken by many eastern Bantu peoples to manifest and essential life-process. Chyme is taken ritually to make whole, restore or tansfer life. The animal acts thus as a vehicle rather than a surrogate, and the ritual itself is concerned with broader, impersonal qualities of life and well-being rather than the personalised deities or spirits that are commonly addressed in sacrifice.

Abstracthave you been sowing and not seen any tangible results? have you been wondering how it works for others? this singular understanding can literally change your life, Apostle Joshua Selman explains in the clearest form we've known how seed sowing really works, this will change your life

AbstractThis research examines the interpretation of 1Cor. 11:27−29 and the practice of worthy admission to the Eucharist within the historical context and tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC). Christianity in Ethiopia has ancient roots in Judaism and in the apostolic tradition of the early church fathers, whose religious orientation and teaching shaped the church’s history, tradition, doctrine, and religious practices. In particular, we examine the church’s focus on the sanctity of the Eucharist and the acceptable celebration of and participation in the Sacrament by the faithful. Analyzing the multi-facetted legacies of the EOTC, including Judaism and the early church fathers, both from Antiochene and Alexandrian traditions, interrelated to each other, the research discusses the biblical interpretative tradition of the EOTC, which is codified in the Andemta Commentary (AC) and which continues to influence the central, formative, ecclesiastical practice of teaching and preaching of the EOTC. The church’s ancient historical religious tradition and its liturgy, the long-standing biblical interpretation embedded in the AC, and the subsequent Ethiopic Bible versions interpret the Greek term ἀναξίως in verse 27as an adjective, thus requiring those who intend to partake in the Sacrament to demonstrate worthy Christian virtue and purity before participating in the Eucharist. The conclusion is that this interpretive tradition has not only placed an undue burden on consciences, but has also provided a distorted interpretation of the Corinthian context and the correct interpretation of this verse.

Abstract"This Norton Critical Edition includes: The only student edition of Soyinka's play. An expansive introduction, headnotes, and explanatory footnotes by Simon Gikandi. Nine interior images. Background materials related to traditional Nigerian myth and culture, including two selections new to the Second Edition. A new section, "The Play on Stage," that considers Soyinka as director as well as the interpretative challenges of producing and performing Death and the King's Horseman. Seven critical essays-five of them new to the Second Edition-by Henry Louis Gates Jr., David Richards, Wole Ogundele, Eileen Julien, Cheryl Sterling, Eugene McNulty, and Ato Quayson. A chronology of Soyinka's life and work and a selected bibliography"-- Provided by publisher

AbstractIn British-occupied Nigeria, the king is dead, and his horseman, Elesin, must accompany him into the afterlife. Elesin proudly anticipates his transition to the next, but the sacred ritual is interrupted. Stars: Anthony Santiago, Amaka Umeh, Graham Abbey, Kwaku Adu-Poku, Akosua Amo-Adem Directed by Tawiah M’Carthy

AbstractCritics largely interpret Death and the King's Horseman as a representation of a particular cultural trauma: African secularization under colonial modernity. If, however, the nation-state presupposes a political theology, then colonization is not secularization, but a transition into a new order of the sacred. I argue that Horseman stages this process as a cosmological trauma emerging through a transfiguration of sacrifice. As an indigenous death rite transfigures into an imperial possession rite, incarnating the political theology of colonized life, the cyclic time of Yoruba cosmology assumed within the drama becomes entangled in the sequential time of colonial modernity. Beyond representing this trauma, Horseman ritualizes it, providing a passage into modernity by aesthetically mediating that which it laments and, moreover, offering a new vision of community. This process bears implications exceeding Horseman criticism, addressing the discourses of biopolitics, political theology, cultural trauma theory, postcolonial studies, and tragic theory.

AbstractThe Fetha Nagast, or The Law of the Kings, is the foundation of Ethiopian law, and was perhaps the first written law of sub-Saharan Africa. Derived from Roman Law and church canons of the Eastern Rite, it was brought up the Nile in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, and there translated into Ge'ez, the local church language. While its early use is uncertain, by the end of the nineteenth century it had become the basis for the development of national law. Translated into Italian then, this English translation by Abba (later Cardinal) Paulos Tzadua was first published in Ethiopia in 1968, edited by Peter Strauss. This new edition, with added historical notes by Cardinal Tzadua and the German scholar Peter Sand, faithfully reproduces the first edition and makes this historic text readily available to American readers.

AbstractThe chapter explores martyrdom in the Churches of Africa from the time of the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641 to the present day. The experiences of the Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Churches, of Roman Catholics and Protestants, are included, with attention both to missionaries and African men and women who died for their faith. The chapter highlights the Mombasa massacre of 1631, the persecution of Malagasy Christians from 1831-1865, and the Uganda ‘holocaust’ of 1885-1887 as formative events in the development of African Christianity. Individuals such as Donna Beatrice in the eighteenth century, Simon Kimbangu, and John Chilembwe in the twentieth, who founded African Christian independent movements, and whose martyrdom was connected to their critique of missionary Christianity, will be discussed. The relationship between martyrdom and political conflict, the place of Christian minorities under severe pressure, and the role of individual sacrifice, are explored.

AbstractThis article offers the results of research in which two theological fields cooperated in order to investigate one specific repertoire of liturgical rituals. From the perspective of both Liturgical Studies, and its focus on the functioning of ritual within its cultural context, and Old Testament Studies, and a focus on how biblical critics understand certain rituals described in the Priestly texts in the Pentateuch, ritual burning and slaughtering in an AIC was studied. Ritual Studies is beginning to play a much more prominent role in the engagement with books such as Leviticus and Numbers and also in Liturgical Studies, and this article is an example of how these two disciplines can fruitfully cooperate in the study of liturgical rituals in an AIC in South Africa.

AbstractThis paper examines a set of ritual responses to the challenges that post-apartheid South Africa's political economy poses to projects of domestic reproduction in the former Bantustan countryside of Zululand, where unemployment has limited the capacities of young men to create marital households. In the case study on which the paper is based, one such man's misfortunes are connected by divination to the spirit of an older kinsman who disappeared while working as a labor migrant. I argue that this connection and the rituals meant to confront it turn on fraught symbolic relations between the present and two pasts: the past of apartheid migrancy and a projected past of custom. Like the ghosts by which they are manifest, these times trouble domestic life in the present because of contradictory developments forcing unemployed migrants back on the values of private spheres while they undermine the bases of rural households.