INTRODUCTION
There are cultural and religious affinities between Nigerians and the rest of the black Africans. In view of these, while the main thrust of this book is the NTR yet it must be seen against the background of Africa as a whole. In other words, NTR as treated in the book is in the context of African Traditional Religion. The book is divided into two major parts namely:
1 Nigerian Traditional Religion: Beliefs and modes of coping with uncertainties of life.
2 Thematic features in African Traditional Religion.
CHAPTER ONE.
Difficulties In The Study Of ATR
The author highlights the difficulties as follows:
1. Lack of Sacred Scripture: The lack of sacred scripture has made it difficult to judge the theology of the religion.
2. Unfair Comparison: Scholars who study ATR normally use their own religion as a yard stick.
3. The Stay-at-Home-Writers: They base their writings on the researches of the traveler-writers. This leads to a distorted idea of what ATR is.
4. The Vastness Of The African Continent: Since Africa is so big and consists of many ethnic groups and a language, scholars finds it difficult to ascertain which form of religion to be taken as the norm.
CHAPTER TWO
Four Periods Discernable In The History Of The Study Of A.T.R.
1 Period Of Ignorance: This is the era prior to the 19th century. This is also viewed as the era of false cerntainty, when Africa was seen as an abode of ‘perpetual darkness” devoid of culture and religion.
2. Period Of Doubt and Resisted Illumination: In the late 19th century, some scholars felt there could be no people without religion, no matter how distorted their god consciousness might be.
3. Period Of Intellectual Dilemma: This is the era when the “bitter truth” about the existence of God and belief in supernatural entity began to tell on the consciousness of the Western Scholars.
4. The Emergence Of African Scholars Of Religion: In the beginning of the late forties, a crop of African scholars of religion emerged. This calls for a radical openness on the part of the scholars.
CHAPTER THREE.
Sources For The Study Of ATR
1. The Living Embodiment Of The Religion: This has to do with the devotees of this religion who as much as possible has not been influenced by foreign religions and cultures.
2. The Liturgy Of The Religion: This implies all the elements that make up the order of worship at the shrine. It includes the rituals, taboos, types of sacrifice and co lour of ceremonial clothing.
3. Literature Of The Religion: Although some literatures are written from the stand point of preconceived ideas, they are still useful at least for comparison purpose.
CHAPTER FOUR
Some Concepts Ascribed To NTR/ATR
1 Animism: E.Taylor, insists in his theory that the primitive man considered every object to have its own soul, thereby giving rise to countless spirits in the world.
2 Fetishism: This term refer to the pagan worship of gods and veneration of ancestors.
3 Polytheism: One should note that polytheism does not mean the existence of many gods, but several independent, co-eternal gods, out of which one may be regarded as the chief but never the creator of others in the pantheon.
4 Monotheism: This term seems to be the most appropriate for NTR/ATR. For Imasogie, “bureaucratic monotheism” is appropriate. This is because; it reflects the socio-political set up of the people of Nigeria and Africa in general.
CHAPTER FIVE AND SIX
Basic Beliefs In ATR
1. The Supreme Being: It has been described as the creator, eternal, self subsisting and omniscient. While his transcendence is emphasized, his immanence also apparent.
2. The Myth Of Creation: They are varieties of the myth of creation. The core story that persists through the various versions holds that what is now our earth was once a watery, marshy waste which God assigned his chief divinity to make inhabitable.
3. Evil Spirit: The third classes of spitiual beings are evil spirits. It was said to be every where and actively at night. These spirits are subject to man if one knows how to manipulate them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Nigerian Understanding Of The Earth And Man
Earth: The earth is seen as a reality created by God. Earth is a place where man is to live out his life in preparation for the fuller life in heaven. The ordinary man sees only the physical dimension but there are others not visible to the natural eyes. The “vital force”, “psychic force”, “energy” and “dynamism”. The earth is mysterious, sacred and impregnated with good and evil as well as neutral spiritual forces which can be exploited by man.
Man: Man is a complex psycho-physical being as mysterious as the earth in which he lives. He is created by God as seen in the myth of creation. Man has what is called a tripartite soul consisting of life force, personality and alter-ego sometimes called ‘guardian genius” Man can manipulate the lower spirits and the neutral force all of which can harm him if he is careless and does not protect himself against them. This implies that man by nature is a complex being.
CHAPTER EIGHT AND NINE
Rites Of Passage
In the Traditional Religion the individual and his community either in the form of the family unit or the clan marks each stage of life with religious rite. These rites of passage initiate the individual into the human community. Death is a very solemn event fraught with danger for both the deceased and the living; hence, precaution must be taken to ensure that every thing is done properly. The death rite is aimed at ‘separation, transition and incorporation’.
CHAPTER TEN
Divination
The African sees life as a mystery to be lived out on a mysterious planet ruled by spiritual forces of good and evil. There is no event without spiritual/metaphysical cause; hence man must look beyond physical events to their spiritual etiology.
Sacrifice
It forms a major part of the religious expression of the African Traditional Religionist. Sacrifice are made to expiate for sins committed, to show gratitude for blessings received , for permission or license to avail oneself or certain natural facilities like farming or fishing. A host of other needs may call for sacrifice.
Protective Amulets And Charms
The importance of protective charms and amulets for the people of Africa can only be appreciated in the light of their world-view. This is why people spend a lot of money in acquiring charms in forms of finger-rings, arm- bands and waist-bands.
CONCLUSION
In the course of the group’s readings, we discovered that the book tries to make a positive case of NTR and ATR in general. The book brings out the fundamental elements and principles of ATR and tries to explain their meaning and functions in the traditional society. The contents of the book exposes the basic faculties of ATR and provides scholars with the basic tool needed in order to delve into the technicalities of understanding the true nature of NTR/ATR.
Editor: Jude Ekemgba CSSp
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