Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and its Diaspora An AASR e-Journal December 2018 - Volume 4 - Number 1 A Special Issue Dedicated to Jan Platvoet Guest Editor Rose Mary Amenga-Etego Editor-In-Chief Afe Adogame i Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and its Diaspora December 2018 - Volume 4 - Number 1 ISSN: 2311-5661 EDITORIAL MANAGEMENT BOARD Editor in Chief Afe Adogame, Princeton Theological Seminary, USA Deputy Editor J. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu, Trinity Theological Seminary, Legon, Ghana Assistant Deputy Editor Corey L. Williams, Leiden University, The Netherlands Reviews Editors Janice McLean, City Seminary, New York, USA Lovemore Togaresei, University of Botswana, Gaborone Abel Ugba, University of East London, UK INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD Ulrich Berner, University of Bayreuth, Germany Elias Bongmba, Rice University, USA James Cox, University of Edinburgh, UK Deidre Crumbley, North Carolina State University, USA Gerrie ter Haar, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands Philomela Mwaura, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya Oyeronke Olademo, University of Ilorin, Nigeria Jacob Olupona, Harvard University, USA Jan Platvoet, Leiden University, The Netherlands Abdulkader Tayob, University of Cape Town, South Africa ii Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and its Diaspora December 2018 - Volume 4 - Number 1 ISSN: 2311-5661 COPYRIGHT AND OPEN ACCESS POLICY © 2018 under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access. ABOUT THE JOURNAL The Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and its Diaspora is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal for the academic study of the religions of Africa and the African Diaspora. It will serve primarily as an interdisciplinary journal in which AASR members, but also non-AASR-members, publish the outcomes of their original research on the religions of Africa and the African Diaspora. The journal will cover the wide range of religious traditions that were founded, were or are found, and exist and operate in Africa and the African Diaspora; and topics useful to scholars involved in the academic study of religions in Africa and the Africa Diaspora, and to a wider readership of academics in the general study of religions. The journal shall be published as electronic issues only, with up to two (2) issues per year. It will be administered on behalf of the AASR by the Editorial Management Board and the International Advisory Board. iii Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and its Diaspora December 2018 - Volume 4 - Number 1 ISSN: 2311-5661 ABOUT THE AASR The African Association for the Study of Religions (AASR) is an academic association that promotes the study of religions in Africa through international collaboration in research, publishing, and teaching. AASR was founded in 1992 in Harare, Zimbabwe at a Regional Conference of the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR). The AASR has been an affiliate organization of the IAHR since 1995. In particular, the AASR aims to stimulate the academic study of religions in Africa in the following ways: • By providing a forum for multilateral communications between scholars of African religions • By facilitating the exchange of resources and information • By encouraging international collaboration in research between scholars and institutions in Africa and those outside the continent • By developing publishing opportunities particularly for scholars based in Africa • By establishing a travel fund to enable scholars to attend academic conferences • By organising conferences in Africa and panels on the religions of Africa • By establishing a newsletter and website to increase communication between scholars of African religions • By creating a directory of scholars in the field of African religions AASR MEMBERSHIP Any scholar with suitable qualifications in the study of the religions of Africa and its diaspora, or in the study of other religions when appointed to an academic institution in Africa, may apply for membership with the AASR. Membership is open to scholars of religions working in the fields of African indigenous religions, Islam in Africa, African Christianity, new religious movements, and other religions with followers on the continent, such as Hinduism and Judaism, as well as in the religions of the African diaspora. For more information about membership requirements, please visit the AASR website: http://www.a-asr.org/membership/ iv Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and its Diaspora December 2018 - Volume 4 - Number 1 ISSN: 2311-5661 CONTENTS EDITOR’S NOTE Rose Mary Amenga-Etego & Afe Adogame 1 ARTICLES Crossing Research Boundaries: ‘Our Nankani Daughter’ in Academia Rose Mary Amenga-Etego 3 Mamalawo? The Controversy over Women Practicing Ifa Divination Ayodeji Ogunnaike 15 Gender and Religion in Mariama Bâ’s So Long a Letter Elias Kifon Bongmba 35 Sexuality and Sexual Scripting in African Traditional Religion: Mumbi in A Grain of Wheat Loreen Maseno 54 Retrieving African Traditional Religion from the Fringes – Ubanda and the Brazilian Traditions as a Source Ullrich Relebogilwe Kleinhempel 67 Convoluted Pentecost? An Analysis of Akan Indigenous Worldviews in Ghanaian Pentecostal-Charismatic Praxes Bernard Otopah Appiah 82 Philanthropy as Image Politics in Ghana’s New Churches Michael Perry Kweku Okyerefo 99 v Causes of Religious Conflict in Ethiopia Bekalu Atnafu Taye 113 Left Wing Fideism: A Critique of Non-Cognitivism J. C. Thomas 129 Journal for the Study of the Religions of Africa and its Diaspora 4.1 (December 2018): 1-2 Editor’s Note Jan G. Platvoet’s encounter with Africa, first as a missionary and later as a scholar, has earned him a significant place in the academic study of religion on the continent and beyond. As a historian of religion, he has made remarkable contributions to the academic study of indigenous religions in Africa and thus contributed in launching African religion into the global academy. His works in the areas of historiography, theory and methodology in the study of African religions and religions in Africa have immensely contributed to knowledge in the field. His notable roles in the African Association for the Study of Religions (AASR), as one of its pioneers but also one of the most proactive actors, and in the International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) are not only outstanding, they have earned him a conspicuous place as one who has contributed to putting the academic study of religions in Africa on the global academic map. This Special Issue comprising nine contributions is the first set of essays written to honour him for his impact and mentorship in this area of scholarship. Similarly, the variety of essays in this volume demonstrate his broader engagement in the field as well as the growing interest of contemporary scholars of religion. The first essay by Rose Mary Amenga-Etego, ‘Crossing Research Boundaries: Our Nankani Daughter in Academia’ engages the challenges faced by contemporary African scholars as they cross the boundaries of object and subject with their indigenous experiential knowledge systems and demands to the Western academic sphere, where research neutrality and objectivity, based on critical ‘scientific’ analysis of data is upheld as the key principle of research. As researchers within their indigenous languages, cultures and religions, these scholars wrestle to skilfully navigate their multi-layered positionality, especially the women. In ‘Mamalawo? The Controversy over Women Practicing Ifa Divination,’ Ayodeji Ogunnaike engages the debate on the controversy over women becoming diviners in Ifa traditions. The author argues that the understanding and application of gender is not only contextually relative, its implications for initiation rituals, especially in ‘the rapidly growing number of female initiates in diaspora, will likely change the dynamics of the tradition going forward.’ Thus, Ogunnaike’s essay addresses the issue of fear and anxiety over the emergence of women in Ifa divination, a perspective that does not only border on the future of African spirituality, but also, whether it is innovative and transformative. Another interesting area of this volume is its engagement with how religious themes intertwines with African novels. This set of two essays begin with Elias Kifon Bongmba who examines ‘Gender and Religion in Mariama Bâ’s So Long a Letter’ to show how religion and gender are intricately situated within the indigenous religio-cultural setting of death; while Loreen Maseno’s ‘Sexuality and Sexual Scripting in African Traditional Religion: Mumbi in A Grain Of Wheat’ brings out the sensitive themes of sexuality and sexual politics in addition to those of religion and gender. These two contributions Editor’s Note – Adogame 2 interweave the complex themes of religion, gender relations, sexuality and power functions within the socio-cultural reality of Africa. Unlike the above essays, Ullrich Relebogilwe Kleinhempel’s ‘Retrieving African Traditional Religion from the Fringes – Umbanda