TheEncyclopediaof AfricanReligion is thefir st
comprehensiveworktoassembleideas, concepts,
discourses, andextensivees saysonAfricanreli-
gion.Over theyears,therehavebeennumerous
encyclopediasonreligionfromot herpartsofthe
world,bu t Afr icanreligionhasof tenbeenrele-
gatedto“primitivereligions,”“Africanmytholo -
gies,”or“tribalreligions” sectionsofsuchworks
onreligion.It is asif Africanreligionis anaf ter -
thoughtintheeyesoftheauthorsan d editors of
suchvolumes. Of course, thesedesignationsare
clearly based on outmoded and pr oblematic
WesternnotionsofAfrica,andwe havecreated
thisencyclopediaasa monumenttothememor y
ofthoseAfricanswholeftusenoughinformation
fromwhichtorediscoverfortheworldtheorigi-
nalbeautyandmajestyofAfricanculture.
There were two objectives in advancingthis
worktothepublic.First, wewantedtoprovide
the primary material necessary for further
research,analysis,andexpositionoftheconcrete
beliefsofAfrican people.Second,wesoughtto
elevatethediscourse aroundAfricanreligion,sug -
gestingbythepresentationofne arly 500ent rie s
thattherewasst illmuchwedidno t knowabout
Africanculture.Africais thesecondlargestconti -
nentintheworld.Yetitsintellectualandcu lt ural
contributionsremainamongtheleastunderstood
if wetakethewrittenrecordsaboutthecontinent
anditspeopleassourcesofknowledgeaboutth e
continent.Therearestillthosewhoseknowledge
ofAfricais groundedintheperceptionsandatti-
tudes of missionaries, merchants, and marines
whohaveoccupiedthecontinentthroughforeign
religions,trade,orguns.Theenormityof Af rican
contributiontoideasofreligion,spirituality,and
ethicshasgoneunappreciatedbyreligiousschol-
ars,althoughatthebeginningof humanhi story,
Africamakesitscasefortheoriginofreligionin
anofficial,formalmanner.It is ourhopethatthe
reflectiononAf ricanreligionoccasionedby th es e
entries will en hanceour understanding of th e
Africanworldandprovidea newad venturefor
comparativest udies.
Unquestionably,a workasinnovativeandcom -
prehensiveasthisencyclopedia makesitsmark in
theareaofintellectualinquirybystakin g outne w
areasofknowledge.It providestheread er with
newmetaphors, tropes,figuresofspeech,mode s
of reasoning, et ymologies, analogies, and cos-
mogoniesto satiatetheintellect.Onlyinsu chan
encyclopediaasthiscanonetrulygrasp th e enor-
mi tyofAfri ca’s contribution to religious ideas.
Thus,thiswork presentsrichlytexturedid easof
spirituality,rit ual,andini tiation whileadvancing
new theological categories, cosmologi calnarra-
ti ves,andwaystoconceptualizeethicalbehavior.
Giventhatwe viewedAfricanrel igionasone
religionandtheAfricancontinentasa whole,we
were inclinedto introduce classicalAfric anreli-
gious ideas,fromthebeginning ofKemet tothe
arrivalofChristianityandlaterIsl aminAfrica,as
si gnificant forerunners of much of contin en tal
Africanthought. Thesame appealtoethics, based
onrighteouscharacter;thesamesearchforeternal
life,foundinlivinga lifewheregoodou tweighs
evil; andthe same openness toancestral spirits ,
kas, asremainingamongthecommunityof theli v-
ing , createsanappreciationoftherecurringcycle
of humanity. Correspondences oflanguage and
conceptaswithAmen ,Amani, andImani, which
aretransgenerationalandtranscontinental,re main
vibrant parts of the African legacy of religion.
WhentheAkanusethewordsKw ame,As are, and
Nkwa, theyrecallthemoreancientAmen,Au sar,
andAnkh. Severalbooks,startingwiththeold er
worksofEvaMeyerowitz, haveexamined these
correspondences. Ofcourse,in morerecenttimes,
Afrocentric authors such as Mubabinge Bilolo,
Chinweizu Chinweizu, and Theophile Obengaxxi