| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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Some of the individual essays are worth noting:
Abimbola’s essay, ‘The Place of African Traditional Religion in Contemporary Africa: The Yoruba Example’ (1991, 51–58), argues that in spite of their influence, Christianity and Islam have been unable to penetrate the traditional religion of the Yoruba people.
Mbon’s work, ‘African Traditional Socio-Religious Ethics and National Development: The Nigeria Case’ (1991, 101–109), is reminiscent of the findings of the TRC in Sierra Leone that African social ethics are capable of promoting impressive socioeconomic development in contemporary African societies.
Awolalu’s paper, ‘The Encounter Between African Traditional Religion and Other Religions in Nigeria’ (1991, 111–118), gives readers an account of the advent and interaction of Islam and Christianity with ATR in Northern Nigeria. Awolalu traced the different encounters of Islam and Christianity with ATR. Like Blyden, Awolalu showed that Islam has proven more tolerant of ATR than was Christianity.
Mulago’s essay, ‘African Traditional Religion and Christianity’ (1991, 119–134), argues that ATR has been a vital religious force in Africa and has had a long relationship with Christianity.
The book edited by Olupona and Nyang (1993) comprises chapters written in honour of John Mbiti’s enormous contribution and pioneer work in African scholarship. The religious plurality, which is prevalent in Africa, makes this work relevant to this study. The book is divided into five sections. The first two deal with matters concerning African religion and theology. The next two deal with ATR and other religious faiths. The last section presents responses to John Mbiti’s work. The following two essays are among those worth considering.