more firmly within the academic study of religions. However, I will draw
attention to the stance by many African scholars that the tension between the
two disciplines should not be imported to the region. According to James L.
Cox (1994), perhaps the conflict between religious studies and theology is not
as pronounced in Africa because African scholars who undertake the study of
religions are themselves religious.
Although the study of religions in Africa is also undertaken at theological
training institutions, Islamic centers, and Faculties of Divinity at church-related
universities, departments of religious studies (and alternative labels) in state-
sponsored universities constitute the central focus of this chapter. The review
is also tilted toward the study of religions in Anglophone countries. The
discipline is not well developed in French and Portuguese speaking areas of
the region.Prehistory of the study of religionsIt has often been assumed that education, and consequently the study of
religion in sub-Saharan Africa, is tied to the arrival of European settlers. Such
a view might be informed by age-old prejudices against Africa, its people, and
its institutions. It might also be a result of placing too much emphasis on literacy
as opposed to oral traditions. Richard King (1999: 62) rightly notes that ‘the
vast majority of religious expression throughout history has been of a non-literate
nature, taking the form of speech, performance, or iconography’. Like all other
people in the world, the inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa have traditions of
imparting knowledge and values. They have also been reflecting on the meaning
of life since ancient times. An analysis of indigenous approaches to religion will
enable us to appreciate how they might have facilitated the general acceptance
of religious studies when it was introduced as an academic discipline in the
twentieth century.
There was, and has remained, scope for the critique of religion in African
societies. Although ideology creates the impression that religious beliefs and
practices that have been handed down from one generation to another are
immutable, there is considerable openness in ATRs. Pre-colonial African
education played an important role in empowering members of society to
appreciate the fact that reality is complicated. Proverbs enabled learners to
adopt a critical stance towards inherited wisdom. African proverbs are open
to a multiplicity of interpretations, including contradictory ones. While some
proverbs would promote communalism, others would highlight its poten-
tially oppressive dimensions. This emphasis on a critical approach to life is
also discernible in how members of the community were encouraged to utilize
their own intellectual resources. For example, among the Shona people of
Zimbabwe a person seeking advice from others, including those in the realm104
EZRA CHITANDO