Ancestors are demonic - is it true? Traversing Christian demonology and African traditional religion

Abstract

In the early 19th century, missionaries flocked to Central and Southern Africa to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whilst interacting with the local African indigenous communities, and observing their culture and their way of life, the missionaries concluded that the indigenous people needed not only the Christian faith, but also to be civilised. The African way of life was regarded as backward, barbaric, and heathen. For this reason, the missionaries went out of their way not only to convert Africans to Christianity, but also to package Christianity in European culture, which was viewed as more advanced and acceptable than the African way of life. The arrival and work of missionaries in Africa flourished. Hence, even nowadays, Southern Africa is predominantly Christian. Unfortunately, the attitudes and teachings of missionaries regarding African traditional religion remain in Africans’ minds, in particular. Many Africans, especially those who are educated and have converted to Christianity, still perceive some practices of African traditional religion as heathen and demonic. This research intends exploring this narrative, by mainly referring to the African practice of venerating ancestors as demonic. It intends, first, to set the record straight, by exploring demonology as well as Christian demonology and its origins; secondly, to evaluate the African traditional religion’s understanding of ancestral veneration, and thirdly, to analyse Christian demonology and whether there are correlations between demonology and ancestral veneration. The research employs a literature review as a methodology for the study. This research concludes that ancestral veneration is not demonic; instead, it found that demonology is a foreign concept in traditional African religion. In addition, the research established that the words ‘demon’ or ‘demonic’ do not exist in African languages and world view.