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29-446: In Nguni mythology , Tikoloshe , Tikolosh , Tonkolosh, Tonkolosi, Tokoloshe , Tokolotshe , Thokolosi , or Hili is a dwarf -like water spirit . It is a mischievous and evil spirit that can become invisible by drinking water or swallowing a stone. Tokoloshes are called upon by malevolent people to cause trouble for others. At its least harmful, a tokoloshe can be used to scare children, but its power extends to causing illness or even

58-537: A book of African proverbs , collected from across the continent. From 2005 up until his death in 2019, Mbiti was an emeritus professor at the University of Bern and a retired parish minister to the town of Burgdorf , Switzerland. He was married to Verena Mbiti-Siegenthaler and had four children and five grand-children. Mbiti died in Burgdorf on 5 October 2019. After graduating from Cambridge University he

87-491: A collection of his research compelled him to compile his notes and lectures into his first book, which was published in 1969. Following his career at Makerere, he held visiting professorships at universities across the world where he continued publishing books on philosophy, theology and African oral traditions. From 1974 to 1980 Mbiti was the director of the World Council of Churches Bossey Ecumenical Institute. He held

116-639: A parish minister (1996) and university lecturer (2005) in Switzerland, Mbiti translated the entire New Testament from its original manuscripts in Greek and Hebrew into his mothertongue Kikamba , a Bantu language spoken by the Kamba people of Kenya (and Tanzania). Among the numerous prestigious distinctions and honorary doctorates Mbiti received, the Anglican Church of Southern Africa honored Mbiti with

145-551: A series of influential conferences that focused on intercultural theology. His goal was to bring together African, Asian and other theologians for ecumenical encounter and dialogue. The first conference in June 1976 focused on African and Asian contributions to contemporary theology. This conference had an attendance of more than 80 participants. His second more well-known conference, "Confessing Christ in Different Cultures",

174-571: A supreme being who is believed to be the controller of the world and all its inhabitants. Mbiti also discovered that the Igbo religion considers that when an individual dies, their soul or spirit wanders until the body is given a proper burial. This waiting period is called the transitional period of the deceased. Christianity arrived in Igbo land in 1857, creating fear within the Igbo that if they became Christians their god would bring disaster to them. Others also refused to convert to Christianity because of

203-622: Is connected to their ancestors and to those not yet born creating a mystic continuum. The Igbo religion fully embodies all characteristics of a traditional world religion, including its beliefs, sacred myths, oral qualities, strong appeal to the hearts of its followers, a high degree of ritualization, and possession of numerous participatory parsonages such as officiating elders, kings, priests and diviners. The Igbo religion differs from nontraditional proselytizing religions because it does not have elders who carry out missionary work and individuals who do not preach their religion onto others. They believe in

232-436: Is heavier than pure air and sinks to the bottom. Eventually it was realized that anyone who happened to be sleeping in an elevated position escaped the deadly curse of Tokoloshe , which was described as a short man about hip high who randomly stole one's life in the night unless they were lifted to the height of their bed. "Some Zulu people (and other southern African tribes) are still superstitious when it comes to things like

261-451: Is the creator of all things, therefore meaning that God has revealed himself to all things. Mbiti had little knowledge of African Traditional religion, as he was unaware of previous lectures regarding its foundations due to the deep oral traditions of such religions. He sought out his own personal research to teach the class. He gathered ideas from over 300 African peoples or tribes while conducting field research. Being asked by his students for

290-673: Is uSomandla, the ultimate source of all existence. European settlers used the word Unkulunkulu in order to try to explain their belief in the God of the bible to the people of Zululand. According to Irvin Hexham (1981), "there is no evidence of belief in a heavenly deity or sky god in Zulu religion before the advent of Europeans". However, other scholars such as Eileen Jensen Krige , Isaac Schapera , Axel-Ivar Berglund (1976), Hammond-Took, and John Mbiti disagree with Hexham's analysis. They argue that

319-601: The Ultimate Reality .” Unkulunkulu is sometimes conflated with the sky god Umvelinqangi (meaning "he who was in the very beginning"), the god of thunder , earthquake whose other name is Unsondo, and is the son of Unkulunkulu, the Father, and Nomkhubulwane , the Mother. The word nomkhubulwane means the one who shapeshifts into any form of an animal. Another name given for the supreme being Umkhuluwomkhulu

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348-407: The "lord of heaven" or Zulu sky god has always existed in the traditional Zulu belief system, a deity who they argue is greater than the "archetypal ancestor and creator, Unkulunkulu". John Mbiti John Samuel Mbiti (1931–2019) was a Kenyan -born Christian philosopher and writer. He was an ordained Anglican priest, and is considered "the father of modern African theology". John Mbiti

377-595: The African is, there is religion." Mbiti faced criticism from the Ugandan writer Okot p'Bitek for casting his arguments in intellectual terms that had been established by the west. Specifically, his biggest criticism was that African cosmologies ultimately align with Christian views of God as omnipotent, omnipresent and eternal. P’Bitek wrote in his own book African Religions in Western Scholarship that

406-399: The African traditional religions are beyond recognition to the ordinary Africans in the countryside. Mbiti supposedly never responded to the criticism, according to Derek Peterson, a professor of history and African studies at the University of Michigan . Similarly, Tsenay Serequeberhan placed Mbiti in the tradition of ethnophilosophy and argued that Mbiti tries to "expose the interiority of

435-647: The Archbishop’s Award for Peace and Justice during a celebration of his life and writing at the University of Stellenbosch, Republic of South Africa, in November 2016. Mbiti in his book looks to dissect the origins of African traditional religion, specifically by studying oral traditions. The Igbo religion is one of the traditional African religions that Mbiti researched; their tradition was rooted in their culture. Received orally by authorities, this tradition

464-749: The Christian faith can penetrate deeply and firmly into the African soil?" Mbiti taught religion and theology in Makerere University , Uganda, from 1964 to 1974 and was subsequently director of the World Council of Churches ' Ecumenical Institute in Bogis-Bossey , Switzerland. He held visiting professorships at universities across the world and published extensively on philosophy, theology and African oral traditions . Mbiti's seminal book, African Religions and Philosophy (1969),

493-550: The US and received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1956 and a Bachelor of Theology degree in 1957 from Barrington College , a Christian liberal arts school in Rhode Island . He then earned his Doctor of Philosophy in theology at the University of Cambridge , from where he graduated in 1963. Supervised by C.F.D. Moule , his doctoral work sought to answer the question, "How can African societies be effectively evangelized so that

522-581: The belief that Christian missionaries were there to destroy the Igbo religion. Christians attacked the traditional song music and dance of the Igbo religion as they deemed it immoral. This may have contributed to the emergence of religious conflict between the Igbo and the Christians, and the impression that African traditional religions were rooted in anti-Christian belief. Elders were merely protecting their traditions. One of Mbiti's most famous quotes in his book African Religions and Philosophy was: "Wherever

551-539: The client's loved one for weeks, months, or maybe years later. Zulu mythology Similar to some other Bantu religions, Adherents of Zulu traditional religion believe in honoring ancestors ( Amadlozi ). Unkulunkulu is the highest god and is the creator of humanity. UmkhuluwoMkhulu ("the greatest one") was created in Uhlanga , a huge swamp of reeds, before he came to Earth . Individuals base their morality or behavior ethics on his judgment or “apprehension of

580-411: The death of the victim. Protection against them includes traditional methods such as raising beds off the ground and interventions by spiritual figures like pastors with an apostolic calling or traditional healers ( sangomas ), who are seen to possess the power to banish them. The Tikoloshe is often referenced satirically to critique the influence of superstitions on behaviour and society. The advent of

609-428: The phantom Tokoloshe came about through Bantu folklore to explain why people inexplicably died while sleeping in their rondavels at night. Traditionally, these people slept on the floor on grass mats encircling a wood fire that kept them warm during sub-freezing cold winter nights on the highveld in the rarefied air. They never realized the fire was depleting the oxygen levels, leaving noxious carbon monoxide , which

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638-459: The soul of a loved one, but cannot choose who, as the Tikoloshe will choose the soul it decides to take. The witch doctor locates a dead body to be possessed, piercing the eye sockets and brain with a hot iron rod so that it cannot think for itself, and sprinkling it with a special powder, shrinking the body. The Tikoloshe is then let loose to terrorise its target, taking its payment of the soul of

667-465: The supposedly fictional tokoloshe—a hairy creature created by a witch doctor to harm his enemies (also … known to bite off sleeping people's toes)." According to legend, the only way to keep the Tokoloshe away at night is to put a few bricks beneath each leg of one's bed. The client – usually a jealous person – will approach an evil witch doctor to take vengeance on someone. The client has to promise

696-683: Was born on 30 November 1931 in Mulango, Kitui County , eastern Kenya. His parents were two farmers, Samuel Mutuvi Ngaangi and Valesi Mbandi Kiimba; He was one of six children and was raised in a strong Christian environment. His Christian upbringing encouraged his educational journey through the African Inland Church. He attended Alliance High School in Nairobi and continued his education at University College of Makerere where he graduated in 1953. Mbiti furthered his academic education in

725-594: Was held in Bossey in July 1977. This conference held an attendance of more than 100 people who gathered from 35 different countries. There were discussions on how an individual could reach from a contextual to a universal confession of Christ and emphasized how confession can find expression in liturgy and worship. His third conference focused on "Indigenous Theology and the Universal Church". Upon his retirement as

754-463: Was here he wrote his first book, African Religions and Philosophy (1969). His primary focus in his first book was to challenge the widely held views that African traditional religions were rooted in demonic anti-Christian values and to stress that traditional African religions deserve the same respect as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism. He based his claim on his knowledge that in the Bible, God

783-600: Was ordained an Anglican priest of the Church of England . He served as a parish priest in England until he returned to Makerere in 1964 to teach traditional African religions. From 1980 to 1996 Mbiti was a parish minister in Burgdorf , Switzerland and taught at the same time from 1983 onwards at the University of Bern. Mbiti returned to Makerere University, where he taught African traditional religion from 1964 to 1974. While he

812-539: Was the first work to challenge Christian assumption that traditional African religious ideas were "demonic and anti-Christian". His sympathetic treatment of traditional religions was based on massive field work. Mbiti was clear that his interpretation of these religions was from a firmly Christian perspective, and this aspect of his work was sometimes severely criticized. Mbiti's research interests included theology in Africa and Asia, and ecumenism . He also collaborated on

841-403: Was transmitted from generation to generation through the same oral process. Their traditions revolve around a highly ontological phenomena, pushing their followers to question their existence and being. Within their traditional life, individuals immersed themselves with religious participation, in which they believe starts before they are born and continues after their death. The Igbo religious life

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