Popular Christianity

One noticeable difference between (my knowledge of) popular Christianity in the U.S. and our current knowledge of African religions is the importance of the physical manifestation of its spirituality; this is most noticeably shown by the emphasis that many West African religions put on dancing, however it does share Christianity’s usage of music and singing as well. I must acknowledge that there are likely parts of Christianity that link similar practices to their religious experience, however their frequency seems to be lower in comparison. Albert J. Raboteau mentions that, in the Yoruba and Fon subsets, “the orisha and the vodun are called to take possession of their devotees by the songs and the drumming of of the cult group, each of the

While they start to differ when diving into the specifics of what happens after death, both groups subscribe to the idea of humans having this inner connection to divinity, one that transcends their physical form and extends provides the idea of life after death. Christianity generally believes that deserving people are able to ascend to Heaven after death, the closest a normal, good spirit can get to God and Jesus. This closeness to a creator God is also reflected in many African religions, as many regard spirits as “ontologically ‘nearer’ to God: not ethically, but in terms of communication with Him” (Eastman, 480). Although there is a bit more diversity (based on specific beliefs) as to what the spirit does after death in these African religions, one core concept is that these spirits have become the closest that they could to their major deity, now treated as an intermediary between the living and God. One could even argue that this sometimes occurs in Christianity, where people will also speak to a deceased friend or relative in prayer in order to deliver a message to