African Religious Thought: A Dynamic Web of Traditions Impacting the Globe

Dear Colleagues,

The concept of African religious thought covers a wide range. It applies to African Traditional Religion(s) (ATR), in their diversity, from West Africa­—such as the Yoruba—to Bantu religions, up to the San of Southern Africa, to Afro-Asiatic religions, and to Afro-American religions, such as Umbanda and Santeria. It also comprises African Instituted Churches (AIC’s), with their syncretistic inclusion and retrieval of ATR thought and practices in a Christian frame, even within Pentecostalism. It may thus be regarded as a ‘web of traditions’, interwoven throughout history and into the present.

The concept includes African philosophy, cosmology, anthropology, epistemology, aesthetics, divination, rituals, social thought, sociology, literature, and culture. It has political aspects as well, relating to colonialism and post-colonial reassertion, politics of identity and gender, in local and global contexts, including inter-cultural interaction.

African religious thought encompasses studies by Africans and Afro-descendants ,as well as by scholars and representatives of these traditions. It refers to a growing body of studies, especially from the mid-20th century onwards, across various disciplines such as the history of religions, theology, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and related perspectives.

In recent decades, awareness of the significance of the African religious thought— including its manifestations in the diaspora— has grown. It is recognised as expression of a major religious tradition. The question of its unity and diversity remains a matter of research and debate. 

This can be attributed to the emergence of African nations in the political sphere and to the growing recognition of the African influence and heritage in the Americas. It also reflects awareness of its dynamism: the strength and vitality of religion in Africa and the Americas, especially among those belonging to this web of traditions.

For this Special Issue on African religious thought, contributions are invited that explore aspects of this field. The unifying interest is to describe forms of religion and religious thought that belong to this web of traditions. Investigations may focus on the lines of tradition, as well as on their influence on Christianity, Islam, Esotericism, or others religions that came from outside of Africa and have taken root here and in the diaspora. Themes of interest may include the following:

1. The revival of (pagan) African Traditional Religion in Africa and in the diaspora;
2. Syncretistic Afro-American religions;
3. Christian churches—such as the African Instituted Churches— which have adopted essential elements of practice and concepts from (pagan) African religious tradition;
4. The retrieval of such traditions in mainline Christian churches (Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, or Pentecostalism);
5. The influence of the world-view of African religious tradition in spheres such as ethics, arts, culture, divination, medicine, politics, and society;
6. The reception of African religious thought and spirituality in other cultures.

Contributions are invited from different perspectives with a focus on interrelations.

This Special Issue aims to describe and analyse present formatiosn and developments, with a view to the African religious thought which guides them. It also takes debates and developments into view. It takes interest in inter-relations of present formations with sources in tradition, as well as with other formations of thought, and in different contexts.

Dr. Ullrich Relebogilwe Kleinhempel
Prof. Dr. John Ayotunde (Tunde) Isola Bewaji
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• African philosophy
• African religion
• African theology
• divination
• ritualistics
• experience
• syncretism
• religion and culture