in Africa (Chitando 2005a). Jan G. Platvoet, Gerrie Ter Haar, David
Westerlund, and Rosalind Hackett have reflected on method and theory in the
study of religions in the region. In addition, these scholars have published on
various aspects of religion in sub-Saharan Africa. They have covered various
themes, including New Religious Movements, Pentecostalism, post-colonial
theory and religion, rites of passage, healing, the role of women in indigenous
religions, and religion and migration.
It should be noted that most ‘non-African’ scholars who have published in
the area of religions in Africa have held positions in departments of religious
studies at some point in their career. Between the 1960s and 1990s, some
departments of religious studies in sub-Saharan Africa had personnel from
Europe and North America within their ranks. However, as economic and
political instability threatened the region, many of these scholars left their posts.
Many of them have continued to be actively involved in religious studies in
sub-Saharan Africa. They have assisted some African scholars with short-term
appointments abroad. They have also published on various aspects of religions
in Africa. However, this chapter will highlight the contributions of black
African scholars to the study of religions.
In terms of shaping the character of religious studies in Africa, John S. Mbiti,
an African theologian from Kenya, stands out. His book, African Religions
and Philosophy(Mbiti 1969), has become a classic in the field. It is not
surprising that it was a male African theologian who offered one of the most
detailed publications on indigenous religions. As I illustrated in the historical
section, religious studies in sub-Saharan Africa developed within the context
of Christian expansion. African males tended to have access to education earlier
than their female counterparts.
African Religions and Philosophy seeks to provide a comprehensive
description of African religious beliefs and practices. Mbiti challenges the notion
that indigenous religions are haphazard by locating an underlying logic. As a
‘cultural insider’, he adopts a phenomenological and comparative perspective
(Mbiti 1969: 1). Where some European travelers had casually dismissed ATRs,
Mbiti presents them as religions worthy of human allegiance. According to
him, earlier writers used the wrong terminology. In chapter two, he examines
the various terms that have been applied to the indigenous religions of Africa.
Among them are magic, dynamism, totemism, fetishism, and naturism. He
observes, ‘One needs only to look at the earlier titles and accounts to see the
derogatory language used, prejudiced descriptions given and false judgments
passed upon these religions’ (Mbiti 1969: 10).
As he was to elaborate in his Concepts of God in Africa(Mbiti 1970), Mbiti
contends that belief in God is central to the identity of ATRs. His central
methodological conviction is that there is a logic behind these religions. The
belief in God unites the various indigenous religions, Mbiti argues. Although
writing as a theologian, he is highly sympathetic to ATRs. He traverses sub-114
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