Archbishop AJV Obinna recently criticized the Radio Biafra for trying to indiginize God. While speaking during the last Father's day ceremony, Obinna claimed that Radio Biafra was trying to cause confusion in Christendom by claiming that Chukuwu Abiama is different from the God universally worshiped by others. Using the Leader, the mouthpiece of the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, the Archibishop Obinna, criticized Nnamdi Kanu, the director of the Radio Biafra London, for calling on Biafran's to return back to Chukwu Abiama and reject all foreign gods imposed on them by the Whiteman.
However, the revered archbishop goofed in his assertion that the God Ndi Igbo had worshiped for ages was known by different names, including Chukwu, Ala, Amadioha etc.
That made The Biafran wonder what sort of knowledge they have been teaching Catholic priest in the seminaries? It has been imagined till this moment that they were thoroughly exposed to various aspects of theology. But Archbishop Obinna has proven otherwise with this statement.
For Archbishop Obinna to lump Chukwu with Amadioha shows the height of his ignorance of Igbo religious system. The archbishop ought to have known the difference between Chukwu and Amadioha or ala.
In a veiled attack at Kanu, Obinna stated that "Igbos do not have their own God or different God from the Hausa, Yoruba, Europeans or Americans. It is the same God. God is one. But there are people saying so on radio that Igbos have a different God. It is not so. Before we called on God and other gods such as Ala, Amadioha. Now we have known the creator who created all and gave life. As it is here, so it is everywhere - everyone breathes the same air whether in Nigeria or America, because it is the same God who created all."
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| Archbishop AJV Obinna |
Well, this was where the archbishop got it real wrong. Kanu has never preached that Biafrans have a different God. Rather he believes that Biafrans have special and different relationship with God, who loves them as his special sons, therefore they do not require any priest or pastor to intercede for them to God. This is no different from the believes of Hebrews and what Yeshua taught. Kanu believes that because Biafrans turned their back on the true worship of Chukwu Abiama, and began to worship God as defined by Europeans, things have been difficult for them. Furthermore, Kanu believes that if Biafrans could return to God and worship him in truth and honesty He will deliver them from the hands of their enemies.
Of course, God is God universally, but every culture defines their relationship with Him. In essence, what Kanu preaches is that because Biafrans and other African nations jettisoned their own definition of God and their relationship with Him, and adopted a foreign definition of God (including their relationship with Him), Africa has remained in darkness.
This adoption of foreign perception/definition of God by Africans is very dangerous because accepting that also includes the imbibing of foreign cultures and practices, which God warned against.
For instance, the former archbishop of Canterbury (the head of the Anglican Church - Church of England), Dr Rowan Williams, was a renowned member of the Druids, a Celtic pagan or occultic society. In the same vein many Catholic popes, such as Angelo Roncalli, Pope John XXIII have been known to be members of the Freemasonry. Today, the Anglican Church has accepted gay marriage and gay priests. Where does that leave the Anglican Church in Biafra and other parts of Africa? It will just be a matter of time before the Catholics follow through.
For instance, the former archbishop of Canterbury (the head of the Anglican Church - Church of England), Dr Rowan Williams, was a renowned member of the Druids, a Celtic pagan or occultic society. In the same vein many Catholic popes, such as Angelo Roncalli, Pope John XXIII have been known to be members of the Freemasonry. Today, the Anglican Church has accepted gay marriage and gay priests. Where does that leave the Anglican Church in Biafra and other parts of Africa? It will just be a matter of time before the Catholics follow through.
Is it not time for Africans to redifine their God?
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| Dr Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury during his induction as a Druid in 2002 (BBC) |
The traditional Igbo religion is formed on three distinct objects: “God, non-human spirits and the Ancestors” (Arinze 2008, 15). These three form the pillars on which the belief system of the traditional religion of Ndi Igbo rests. The ancient Ndi Igbo believed that God created the world, while the non-human spirits assist’s God in the preservation of the world, and the ancestors playing the role of prime factors that exist and aids in the shaping of things and events, capable of influencing the destinies and actions of mankind.
This is not different from the Catholic belief in God, angels and saints!
Ignorant even of Igbo religious history??
Ndi Igbo believes in the existence of one Supreme Being (Arinze 2008). New World Encyclopedia states that: “The Igbo are a profoundly religious people who believe in a benevolent creator, usually known as Chukwu, who created the visible universe (uwa), and is especially associated with rain, trees and other plants.” (New World Encyclopedia, 2001). According to a Sierra Leonean writer Harry Sawyerr: “one cannot but be impressed by the fact that among all the tribes which have been studied, there is always some reference to God as the centre of the supreme Authority which controls the world. Indeed all the various tribes possess a name for God….Chuku among the Ibo.” (Sawyerr 1970, 3).
Ndi Igbo believes in the existence of one Supreme Being (Arinze 2008). New World Encyclopedia states that: “The Igbo are a profoundly religious people who believe in a benevolent creator, usually known as Chukwu, who created the visible universe (uwa), and is especially associated with rain, trees and other plants.” (New World Encyclopedia, 2001). According to a Sierra Leonean writer Harry Sawyerr: “one cannot but be impressed by the fact that among all the tribes which have been studied, there is always some reference to God as the centre of the supreme Authority which controls the world. Indeed all the various tribes possess a name for God….Chuku among the Ibo.” (Sawyerr 1970, 3).
Ndi Igbo believes that the Supreme God is just, good and benevolent but has an eternal enemy or rival called “Ekwensu” (the Devil in the Christianity), who causes havoc and unpleasant circumstances. This rival is believed to be the inventor of every wickedness and evil. He is to be hated and despised by the people (Basden 2006).
Ndi Igbo worshipped only one God - the creator - known as Chukwu, Chukwu Okike, Chineke or Chukwu Abiama. They however believed in the existence of lower elementals/spirits (including those of the negative and positive forces).This was before the religious system was corrupted with the elevation of the spirits to lower deities (Arusi/ Alusi). Even at that the ancient Ndi Igbo believed those lower deities were the servants of the Most High God who delegated them to tend various day-to-day affairs and aspects of humans.
Ancient Ndi Igbo believed that Chukwu is so high above and beyond human cognizance that He cannot be worshiped directly or pleaded to directly (except on matters that are critical, urgent and rising beyond human power). This explains the place of the alusi or the intermediaries in the Igbo traditional religion. They are not the end to the worship of the Igbo but a means to the end, in that they are not worshiped or served per se.
The entities such as Amadioha, Ala, etc are lower level dieties in Igbo religious system. While Amadioha is the god of thunder, Ala is the god of fertility or land. These minor deities have never been equated with Chukwu Abiama (the big God), Chineke (God the creator), Obasi bi n'elu (God in heaven) or Olisa bulu uwa/Osebuluwa (the God who fashions or upholds the world).
So where this Archbishp Obinna get this warped idea that Ndi Igbo equated Chuwku on the same level as Amadioha? That is sacrilegious!!
It is so atrocious that in trying to denigrate the Director of the Radio Biafra, Archbishop Obinna thoroughly exposed his ignorance.
How could Archbishop Obinna believe that the god that commands Hausa/Fulani people to kill others in his name is the same God Biafrans worship? There is a marked difference between Allah and God.
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| Nnamdi Kanu the Director of Radio Biafra London |
The person referred to as Jesus Christ by the west (originally Greek), was known as Yehoshua or Yeshua by the Jews. Yeshua, came to bring the Jews back to God, who they abandoned as their religion was corrupted just like those of Ndi Igbo. By the time Yeshua came on board, the world was thoroughly messed up by Satan and his minions, which extended to Jews. However, that not withstanding, all through his life, Yeshua never told anyone one to worship him. He rather directed his apostles who he called friends and not servants to follow him to his Father (God) who he was revealing to them ("You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father Jn 15: 14-15 ). Jesus Christ made it very clear to his apostles that even though he is united with his Father, the Father is more powerful than him ("If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father; for the Father is greater than I" - Jn 14: 28).
Yeshua stated clearly that he receives instructions (actually commands) from Him ("As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love." - Jn 15: 9-10).
Furthermore, when his disciples were too inquisitive to know about the Father, he told them that anyone who has seen him has seen the Father. This is where many perhaps get it so wrong. Although, he never said he is the Father but more like a powerful representative of the Father, many beleives that He is the Father. He said: "I am in the Father" and never said I am the Father. That says a lot!
"Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us". Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves." (Jn 14: 8 -11).
Generally speaking, Radio Biafra is merely asking for the indiginization of Christian values as preached by Yeshua and not the corrupt version the Europeans brought to Africa. A religion that paved the way for the cruelty of colonization and slavery lacks Christian values. A religion that has brainwashed Africans into perpetual servitude is false. Yeshua came to bring freedom and not slavery.
This is in line with the call by Professor John Mbiti (African Religions & Philosophy), who argues that there is a serious need for Christianity to be indigenized and contextualized in Africa. Mbiti called for immediate contextualization of the Gospel in Africa. This implies interpreting the Gospel in African's own terms, imageries and in light of African Traditional Religious practices to the extent that the Gospel still remains genuine and unadulterated. This implies having Christianity in Africa that is totally void of the Western cultures, ideas, norms and blends. It opines a call for thorough African Christian scholarship and research, where African scholars begin to develop African oriented and blended ideas and interpretation of the Scriptures, employing research and still being true to the context, message and culture of the Bible.
The Europeans blended their pagan worship and culture into Christianity before exporting it to Africa. As such they corrupted the words that Yeshua brought from the Father.
So who is actually bringing confusion in the entire thing? Those who are changing what Yeshua the Christ said or those who are doing exactly what God commanded?
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References:
Arinze, Francis. 2008. Sacrifice in Igbo traditional religion. Onitsha, Nigeria: Brothers of St Stephen
Basden, G.T. 2006. Among the Ibos of Nigeria. Great Britain: Nonsuch Publishing Ltd.
Naylor, Wilson S. 1905. Daybreak in the Dark Continent. Chicago: United Society of Christian Endeavour.
New World. 2011. Igbo people. Available at: www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Igbo_people#. Accessed on 18- 04-2011.
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