African Moral Values Can Complement Christian Moral Values Religion Essay Essay Example

African Moral Values Can Complement Christian Moral Values Religion Essay Essay Example African Moral Values Can Complement Christian Moral Values Religion Essay Essay African Moral Values Can Complement Christian Moral Values Religion Essay Essay Moral values can be said to be the ideals of good and immorality, which oversees a individual s workss and picks. Individual s ethical motives can be drawn from society and authorities, from spiritual strong belief, or self. Moral values can besides be defined as by and large accepted, empathic, caring, Christ-like doctrine. The bible provinces that good moral values can be observed in the political orientation and mode of behavior taught by Jesus. It seems merely to bind the definition of moral values to what is right and what is incorrect behavior held by persons. II. Morality Morality denotes a coordination of behaviour that distinguishes purpose, picks, and events between those that are right or incorrect. Immorality is the contrary of morality. III. African Moral Values Harmonizing to Mbiti ( 1990 ) , the African is notoriously and incurably spiritual. Hence a decision can be drawn that African ethical motives are intricately entwined with civilization ( African ) which is greatly dosed with religious beliefs. Consequently in order to grok the African moral values, an lineation of African faith and civilization is necessary. IV. African civilization overview Culture refers to the undermentioned ways of life, including but non limited to: Language ; Art and Sciences Idea Spiritualty Social activity Interaction a ) Religion African Traditional Religion ( ATR ) has proved to be highly complex to specify. There is no individual easy and accurate definition to explicate it. Sadly, many authors have misunderstood ATR by trying to specify it under delusory footings such as thaumaturgy, superstitious notions, crude faith, pagan religion etc. The battle to depict ATR seems to come from the fact that its extension is carried out by populating it other than prophesying it. Its protagonists are more bemused with its pattern than with its theory. ATR influence wraps all facets of life, from before the birth of a individual to long after s/he has passed off. It is a manner of life and life is at its nucleus. Thus remarks such as: For the African, faith is factually life and life is faith. Mbiti offers a sum-up of where to seek for and locate ATR: belief and imposts ; rites, ceremonials and festivals ; shrines, sacred topographic points and spiritual objects ; art and symbols ; names of people and topographic points ; music and dance ; myths and fables ; Proverbss, conundrums and wise expressions. The beliefs and patterns of ATR are based upon the religion of the old native people ( Ancestors ) . This is the ground why it is said to be traditional in contrast to other faiths, e.g. Christianity and Islam, which are considered as foreign since their tenet and patterns came from outside of Africa. There has been considerable consciousness of the duologue between Christian and African Religion. This has been made possible through ways such as bible interlingual rendition. African moral values can complement Christian moral values through the spirit of interreligious tolerance, duologue and common regard. Besides, Christian spiritualty is greatly shaped by spiritualty of African faith. Praying unites Africans and Europeans ( West ) at a religious degree. B ) The Supernatural in Autochthonal African Religions Intellectuals who study faith in Africa inform us that every African society have a belief in God. Some African faiths have faith in one supreme God who formed the universe and all that is in the universe. Other African faiths have faith in more than one God ; however even in these faiths, typically one of the Gods is said to be the supreme God who created the universe. The manner God is seen in most African faiths is both likewise and dissimilar than the manner monotheistic faiths characterize God for illustration Christianity. It teaches that there exists merely one God. African faith can complement Christian moral values by sharing constructs about God for illustration ; God maintains creative activity, God is the Godhead of everything, God provides for and guard s creative activity, God is almighty and all-knowing, God supports equity. The occult is besides important to African spiritual belief. Spirits exists between an all- powerful God and worlds. Liquors in African spiritual traditions portion a figure of features with angels in the Christian traditions. Good liquors assist in screening against sick wellness and bad luck and assistance worlds by offering rain required for harvests every bit good as animate beings used for nutrient. On the other manus, non all liquors are good. Some are viewed as immorality and are thought to be the responsible for unwellness, and other. degree Celsius ) Sense of community One African adage puts across the African sense of community. It says Travel the manner that many people go ; if you go entirely, you will hold ground to plaint . The African idea of security and its value depends on personal designation with and inside the community. For that ground, the reliable African is identified and known, by and through his community. The community is the defender of the person ; therefore we must travel where the community goes. In another significance, the community offers the African the psychological and decisive security as it gives its members both physical and ideological individuality. It must be mentioned that in the African manner of thought, the community as an entity remains, while individuals, come and travel. As a consequence, the Africans emphasis community life and communalism as a life rule of which the cardinal political orientation is community-identity. Its end is to bring forth and show an person as a community-culture carrier. Culture is a community plus and must hence be community-protected. In add-on, the person in an African community is under the kin s attention. His individualism is non given accent at the disbursal of his community individuality. This is the ground why individuality, as a tenet and codification of life, is non encouraged in Africa. The societal rules spelt out above are look of African humanitarianism. Harmonizing to Lambo ( 127 ) , the African adult male is first and foremost a member of his household, the drawn-out household, the community and his society in that order before being an person. Compared to the West s individuality, the African adult male has a societal and communal nature. The African civilization can complement with the Western civilization by incorporating individuality with the communal nature of life. vitamin D ) Sense of Hospitality Sense of cordial reception is innately important in the present endurance of African values. At all times, there is ever impulsive welcome and adjustment to unfamiliar individuals and visitants. Africans effortlessly integrated aliens and offer them lands to settle trusting that they would go forth one twenty-four hours, and the land would be returned to the proprietor. This is normally carried out with the strong belief that one will neer choose out of his ain community. Unlike the West, no assignment and particular invitation are required for one to name on a distant household member or neighbour. On reaching, when there is nutrient the visitant is invited to dine. He is handled kindly, merely as one would desire to be treated when sing another place. Africans possess a symbolic manner of demoing welcome. This is done in a assortment of ways for illustration ; in signifiers of presentation of coconuts, goora nut nuts, traditional brew, groundnuts etc. in different communities. Thes e are offered to show that he is welcome and safe. Onwubiko has observed that a invitee must non harm his host and that when he departs, he should non develop a intuition back on the manner place . ( Onwubiko, 23 ) . This societal value can complement Christian moral values to heighten unity among Africans. The bible says that we should love our neighbours as we love ourselves. By incorporating these values into Christianity, erectness is enhanced among Africans. V. Conclusion For there to be growing and development, African value system must be promoted by the leading. Falling into or copying Wstern values will merely bust up humanity as they are unusual to the doctrine of humanitarianism which is the footing of the African value system. A