In Memoriam: John Samuel Mbiti

John Samuel Mbiti (1931 - 2019)
-Theologian, Philosopher, Priest,
-Professor of African Religions
-Author of (among many others) African Religions and Philosophy (1969)

The African and Religion

"Africans are notoriously religious... Religion permeates into all the departments of life so fully that it
is not easy or possible always to isolate it.... Wherever the African is, there is his[/her] religion...

"One of the sources of severe strain for Africans exposed to modern change is the increasing process (through education, urbanization and industrialization) by which individuals become detached from their traditional environment. This leaves them in a vacuum devoid of a solid religious foundation. They are torn between the life of their forefathers which, whatever else might be said about it, has historical roots and firm traditions, and the life of our technological age, which, as yet, for many Africans has no concrete form or depth.