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Commonalities between Christianity and Africa Traditional Religion
Fear Do to the unpredictability of the spirits and the ability of people to curse their enemies, many people in African Traditional Religion live in fear. Their is fear concerning death in that it comes so often in Africa and that the spirits are much more active and closer to humans when someone in the village or cities has died. In the modern world when many of the traditional ways of dealing with the spirits do not seem to work, fear in heightened. "We have not been given the spirit of fear (timidity), but power, love and self-discipline." (2 Tim. 1:7)
Circular Worldview Life in Africa is often painful. Drought, floods, disease, and poverty often bring heartache and disappointment. All followers of African Traditional Religion have to look forward to is dieing and going to the realm of the dead for a short while. The realm of the dead is an evil place in some ethnic groups. Then, they will be reborn into the land of the living again. This circular worldview breeds hopelessness.
"Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sun, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him." (Heb. 9:27,28)
Limited Power African Traditional Religionists are very aware of the power of the principalities and powers in the unseen realm. They only have limited power to protect themselves from the spirits and those who would wield the might of these spirits against them. They also feel primarily powerless to change their lot in life. "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes..... so that when the day of evil comes, you will be able to stand your ground..... take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." (Eph. 6:10-20)
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