Religion in Africa is multifaceted. Most Africans adhere to either Christianity or Islam. Many also practice African traditional religions, which includes animism, ancestor worship and spirituality, often alongside Christianity and Islam. African cultural manifastations are also prominent in diasporan African religious culture. Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Religion in Africa. ... Animism is the belief in personalized, supernatural beings (or souls) that often inhabit ordinary animals and objects, governing their existence. ... Ancestor worship, also ancestor veneration, is a religious practice based on the belief that ones ancestors possess supernatural powers. ... Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit. ... The African diaspora or Afro diaspora is the diaspora created by the movements and culture of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, to places such as the Americas, (including the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America) Europe and Asia . ...

Abrahamic religions

The majority of Africans today consider themselves either Christian or Muslim. Christianity and Islam have been adapted to African cultural contexts, incorporating elements of indigenous belief systems. Judaism has had a significant presence on the African continent for millennia. There have been several communities of African Jews dispersed across the continent, including the Beta Israel of Ethiopia and Abayudaya of Uganda. Since Biblical times, the Jewish people have had close ties with Africa, going back to Abrahams sojourns in Egypt, and later the Israelite captivity under the Pharoahs. ... The Beta Israel (Hebrew: , Geez ቤተ፡ እስራኤል Bēta Isrāēl, Amharic Bēte Isrāēl, from Aramaic for House of Israel), also known by the term Falasha (Amharic for Exiles or Strangers, as they were called by non-Jewish Ethiopians), a term that may be considered pejorative, are Jews of... The Abayudaya (Abayudaya is Luganda for People of Judah[2][3], analogous to Children of Israel) are a Baganda community in eastern Uganda near the town of Mbale, who practice Judaism. ...

Christianity

Main article: Christianity in Africa

Christianity has existed in Africa for two millennia and is today the most practiced religion on the continent. The Coptic Church, today prominent in Egypt, Ethiopia and neighbouring countries, was according to Christian tradition, established by the apostle Mark approximately 42 AD. Early Christian congregations in Africa were just as influential in shaping Christianity as churches in the Middle East and Europe. There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Jesus Christ in a Coptic icon. ... Mark the Evangelist (מרקוס, Greek: Μάρκος) (1st century) is traditionally believed to be the author of the Gospel of Mark and a companion of Peter. ... A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is one of the seven traditional continents of the Earth. ...

Missionary activity during the colonial period, together with modern evangelism from Pentecostal groups have firmly established Christianity as the most practiced religion on the continent.

Islam

Main article: Islam in Africa

Islam has been practiced in Africa for over a millennium, and is now the dominant religion in northern parts of the continent. Approximately 40% of all Africans are Muslims, in contrast to another 40% being Christians and 20% being non-religious or adherents to African religions. ...

Traditional religion

Main article: African traditional religion

Traditional African religion encompasses a wide variety of traditional beliefs, including ancestor worship, animism, and belief in magic, witchcraft, and sorcery. Traditional religious customs are sometimes shared by many African societies, but they are usually unique to specific ethnic groups (tribes). Many African Christians and Muslims maintain some aspects of their traditional religions It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Religion in Africa. ... Ancestor worship, also ancestor veneration, is a religious practice based on the belief that ones ancestors possess supernatural powers. ... Animism is the belief in personalized, supernatural beings (or souls) that often inhabit ordinary animals and objects, governing their existence. ...

Influence on African diaspora

African spiritualism is also prominent in diasporan African culture, especially in Afro-American religion, including Vodou (and similar manifestations) and the Black churches of African Americans in the United States. The African diaspora or Afro diaspora is the diaspora created by the movements and culture of Africans and their descendants throughout the world, to places such as the Americas, (including the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America) Europe and Asia . ... The Afro-American religions are a number of related religions that developed in the Americas among African slaves and their descendants. ... Voodoo redirects here. ... The term black church refers to Christian churches that minister to the African American community. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...

See also

• African mythology

the original black people. Some would call them niggers, which has over the years come to be an offensive, racist term for blacks, but originally it just meant ignorant person and since black slaves were considered ignorant, they were called this. ...

External links

• BBC
• Afrikaworld.net
• Text of "Atoms and Ancestors", considered a classic study
• Stanford Page
• "Bwiti: An Ethnography of the Religious Imagination in Africa", James Fernandez, Princeton University Press, 1982
• http://www.scn.org/rdi/kw-gods.htm