The effect of semitic primal religion on Israelite religion: a pattern for a contextual biblical interpretation in Nigerian Christianity.
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Date
2016
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Abstract
This research adds to the many voices from African Biblical scholarship, contributing towards an analysis of
how Africans relate to the Bible in the way they do. While social, political, and even cultural factors are
important, this thesis examines the role of primal religion in African interpretation of the Bible.
The perception of Western scholars of African primal religion has not always been that wholesome. But this
study has brought to light how significant a role primal religion has played in African interpretation of the
Bible, particularly for those to whom the Bible is a key resource in their struggle for basic existence. Primal
religion in Nigeria (specifically among the Yoruba) serves as a fundamental tool in the interpretation of the
Bible. The enduring effectiveness of primal religion, this thesis argues, can be found in the weekly sermons
preached in Nigerian churches, churches that are growing in membership. In other words, this kind of
interpretation appeals to the African person in ways that missionary and colonial forms of biblical
interpretation do not.
The effectiveness of the primal religion is an anthropological phenomenon; therefore it goes beyond the
African context. The thesis analyses how the primal religious beliefs of the biblical Israelites too had had an
effect on their religious thought, and in the thesis I argue that this is analogous to the African situation in
Nigeria among the Yoruba.
Therefore the research juxtaposed how the ideo-theological orientation of the writers of certain texts in the
Old Testament (affected by the Semitic background, and their perception of God’s message to them and
their context), and the manner the ideo-theological orientation of the Nigerian preacher/Christian (affected
by his/her primal religion) and his/her perception of the Bible affects his/her interpretation.
The thesis analyses the enduring effect of Near Eastern religious thought on the Old Testament, and then
goes on to analyse the effect of African primal religion on how a selection of Yoruba preachers/Christians
interpret the Bible. These two sets of analysis are then brought into critical dialogue, with a view to
revealing a similar pattern.
Apart from presenting a comparison between the role of primal religion in the Israelites’ religion and
Yoruba Christianity, this research also examined briefly how the biblical interpretation peculiar to these
Yoruba preachers plays a role in the nation-building. I believe the Church has a role to play in the
community in which it is professing its faith. In some other African nations, there had been cases or contexts
whereby the Church rose to its occasion in fighting for independence, or/and even standing against
dictatorship in every form. This thesis concludes with a reflection on how the kind of interpretation
preachers are giving to the Bible today in Nigeria effects positive change in the values and orientation of
civil society more generally. Can this type of Christianity offer a push in the right direction in the practice of
politics and governance in Nigeria?
Description
Doctor of Philosophy in Theology. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg 2016.
Keywords
Religions--African influences., Bible--Theology., Biblical scholars--Nigeria., Bible and politics--Nigeria., Christianity--Nigeria--21st century., Bible--Interpretation., Theses--Theology.