Chukwu, is not regularly worshipped in any
sense. Using the African system of understanding,
the nature of being one cannot conclude that there
is only one divinity. Neither can one conclude that
there are many creator deities. At best, one must
accept that the nature of the divinity is one, but
the attributes of the one are found in the numer-
ous manifestations of the one as the many. To say
that the nature of the divinity is one is different
from claiming that there is only one divinity,
although in most African societies, there is only
one aspect of the divinity that is responsible for
creation. However, polytheism in the sense of sev-
eral superdeities responsible for human society
does not exist. Yet there is every reason to believe
that there is a divinity, spirit, or ancestor that is
capable of relating to every human activity.
Even among the Gikuyu, when a taboo is bro-
ken or an injury is caused to someone by another
person, one may appeal to the ancestors for the
proper remedy. Ngai does not bother with the
affairs of one person, but rather with the entire
people, the whole ethnic group, and the entire
nation. Thus, the Gikuyu are similar to other
African people in terms of communion with the
ancestors and ritual sacrifices. Nevertheless, the
Gikuyu are not polytheistic.
The names of the Supreme God are many.
Among the Masai, like the Gikuyu, their neigh-
bors, God is calledNgai. Among the Mende, the
name Ngewo, which means existing from the
beginning, also means Almighty. The Asante
believe in Nyankopon, who may be female or
male. The Ga people of Ghana use the name
Nyonmo, who is the god of rain, but is also
Almighty. The Yoruba of Nigeria speak of God as
Olorun, owner of the sky. The Ngombe believe in
a supreme spirit calledAkongo, the beginner and
the unending, Almighty and inexplicable. The
Baganda use the name Katonda for Almighty
God. Among the Kikuyu, God is referred to as
Ngai, the creator. The Kikuyu also use the name
Murungu, which means the one who lives in the
four sacred mountains and is the possessor of the
sky. About 25 other ethnic groups use the name
Mulungu or Murungu for Almighty God. The
Baila people call God Leza. In Tanzania and
Congo, the nameLezais often used for the divin-
ity, the supreme. The Sotho say that the Supreme
God isMolimo, protector and father. To the Zulu,
the Almighty isNkulunkulu. The Efik or Ibibio
people of Nigeria call the name of the Supreme
GodAbasi. But the Ijaw speak ofWoyengi, the
Mother Goddess, who created the universe and
everything in it. Included as an appendix in the
Encyclopedia of African Religionis a list of the
names given by more than 200 African ethnic
groups to God.Attributes of the Supreme Deity
We have discovered that the attributes of God in
Africa are quite numerous. Among the more pop-
ular attributes are the following: the moulder, the
bringer of rain, the one who thunders from afar,
the one who gives life, the who gives and destroys,
the ancient of days, the one who humbles the
great, the one who you meet everywhere, the one
who brings sunshine, the one on whom we can
lean and not fall, the one who is father of little
babies, the high one up, the immense ocean whose
circular headdress is the horizon, and the
Universal Father-Mother.
Unquestionably, however, the African idea of a
creator God who brings justice to the Earth is
the most consistent description of the Almighty.
Among the Konso of Ethiopia, Waqa, the
Supreme God, originated morality, social order,
justice, and fertility. Waqa gave the breath of life
to humans who had been formed, but could nei-
ther move nor speak. When Waqa’s wife saw the
state of humanity, she pleaded with him to do
something about human immobility and lack of
speech. Waqa then gave humans breath and
humans began to speak and to move. Yet when
humans die, they must give breath back to Waqa.
The Akan Nyankopon had to deal with
humans trying to reach God after he had retreated
into a distant abode. A woman wanting to reach
God had her children stack pounding mortars on
each other until they almost reached God. They
were one short of reaching God when the woman
thought that the only way to succeed was to have
one of the mortars taken from the bottom and put
on the top to reach God. When this was tried, the
whole thing crashed to the Earth. Since that time,
no humans have been able to reach the distant
abode of God.Introduction xxv