African Religion

This chapter is about conceptualizations of what being an African means in the field of African Religion. By African Religion I mean the African ways of sacred engagement with what is taken to be a spiritual reality, perceptions, thinking, feelings, and actions with respect to understanding and interpreting human existence. This chapter reveals that African Religion plays a significant role in the shaping of African identity. I focus on African Religion and identity because religion shapes the African worldview which provides a framework for understanding the world, one’s place in it, and the relationships among individuals, communities, and the divine. Thus, the major research question investigated in this chapter is: how does African Religion contribute to conceptualizations of the identity of Africans about being an African? The immediate answer to this question is that many conceptualizations have been offered regarding what being an African is in the arena of African Religion. This chapter is guided by the Afrocentricity Theory; an academic approach to scholarship that seeks to center the experiences and peoples of Africa within their own historical, cultural, and sociological context to bring out multiple conceptualizations.