Bewaji and Fayemi On God, Omnipotence and Evil

Agadá, Adá

doi:10.4314/ft.v11i1.4

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The works of Olodumare are perceived, within the Yoruba oral tradition, as incomparable (see GBADAGESIN 1991, 99). This is similar to the conception of Onyame, within the Akan tradition of Ghana (see AGADA 2017AGADA , 2022aAGADA , 2022bAGADA , 2022c Oral traditions constitute a reliable source of information and one gets the impression that there is a conception of supreme deities in traditional African societies. However, the point of controversy is whether these conceptions of the supreme deity in the various African oral traditions are identical to the conception of the Supreme God preached by Western missionaries and Christian theologians.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 57%

The Concept of God in Igbo Traditional Religious Thought

Ojimba¹,

Chidubem²

2023

FITAJII

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This paper examines the concept of God in traditional Igbo-African religious thought, prior to the advent of Western religion, with a view to showing that the idea of a God/Deity who is supreme in every area of life and sphere of influence and who “creates out of nothing,” like the God of the Christian or Western missionaries, is unrecognized in the Igbo-African traditional religious thought. Even though the Igbo conceive of strong and powerful deities that can only reign supreme within their respective sphere of influence where they are in charge, none of these deities is identical to the supreme God promoted by the Christian missionaries. The Igbo traditional religious worldview maintains a polytheistic religious view, unlike the monotheistic outlook of the Christian religion. To achieve its goal, the paper adopts the method of historical hermeneutics and textual analysis.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 57%

The Concept of God in Igbo Traditional Religious Thought

Ojimba¹,

Chidubem²

2023

FITAJII

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“…These can be classified as the 'African theistic view' and the 'limited God view'. The first, as the name indicates, is similar to the traditional theistic understanding of God that regards the deity as omnipotent, omniscient and omnibenevolent while the second conception regards God as limited in power, knowledge and goodness (see, for example, Agada, 2022a;Igboin, 2014).…”

Section: African Concepts Of Godmentioning

confidence: 97%

African Philosophy of Religion: Concepts of God, Ancestors, and the Problem of Evil

Cordeiro‐Rodrigues

Agadá

2022

Philosophy Compass

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There has recently been an increased interest in debates on the nature of God, supernatural entities, and the problem of evil outside the Western tradition and there is a growing realisation that philosophical scholarship should go beyond Western perspectives in order to properly address issues in the philosophy of religion that arise in non-Western cultures.Taking this on board, this article surveys the field of African philosophy of religion and highlights some of the concerns and issues driving debates in the field. In particular, we focus on three important debates. Firstly, we outline the two main schools of thought that divide African philosophers into theistic and non-theistic camps. We label the theistic perspective the 'African theistic view' and the non-theistic perpective the 'limited God view'. Secondly, we explore how commitment to the two views has led to distinct explanations of the problem of evil. Thirdly, we highlight the role of ancestors in African belief-systems and their place in the scheme of things. Adopting the method of philosophical exposition and argument, we show how the two dominant views of God's nature define this emerging field of African philosophy and will determine the future trajectory of the field.

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“…B. Danquah, K. A. Busia and John Mbiti, in their works "dress up African deities with Hellenic robes and parade them before the Western world" (p'Bitek 1970, p. 41) is cogent or not. Hence, issues in contemporary philosophy of religion in Africa focus on the traditional problem of evil, and the nature and attributes of God (Mbiti 1969(Mbiti , 1975Bewaji 1998;Gyekye 1998;Wiredu 1998;Fayemi 2012;Agada 2022aAgada , 2022bCordeiro-Rodrigues and Agada 2022;Majeed 2022;Aleke 2023). Philosophy of Religion within the decolonisation project in Africa is a continuation of the quest for the legitimacy of African philosophy and African epistemic heritage in the face of rejection and/or criticism by the "so-called Western philosophers".…”

Section: God and Philosophers In Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

God, Philosophers and Theologians in Africa

Aleke

2024

Religions

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There is renewed interest in philosophical and theological investigations about God, religions and the implications of religious beliefs among philosophers and theologians in Africa. This development is itself profitable because the question or the problem of God is a relevant discourse in Africa where the majority of people are theists. However, unlike the exploration of the first-generation African scholars—philosophers and theologians—whose primary objective was to show the symmetry between Christianity and African Traditional Religions (ATR), contemporary discourses arise within the clamour for decoloniality. The investigations, with varied emphasis, advocate the decolonisation of the concept of God, epistemic decolonisation, decolonisation of Christianity and African Christian theology, etc. In this essay, I critically examine the contemporary decolonial discourse about God, divine attributes, religious belief, and the relationship between African Christian theology and ATR. I argue that most of the contemporary literature is entangled in conceptual convolution and as such, there is a lack of clarity about what needs to be decolonised. Put differently, most works do not clearly distinguish between reality (the person or phenomenon “God”), thought (the concept “God”), and conceptions of God (language, that is, the terms and images used in making assertions about God). Further, I argue that when conceptual clarifications are adequately attended to, there is no need for decolonisation of discourses about God, divine nature, divine attributes, and the relationship between Christianity and ATR.

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Bewaji and Fayemi On God, Omnipotence and Evil

Cited by 11 publications

References 4 publications

The Concept of God in Igbo Traditional Religious Thought

The Concept of God in Igbo Traditional Religious Thought

African Philosophy of Religion: Concepts of God, Ancestors, and the Problem of Evil

God, Philosophers and Theologians in Africa

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