Olorun Idowu Summary

Try having a Christian explain, in laymen’s terms, the definition of God. Better yet, try explaining to someone any strong emotion felt by an individual in a clear-cut manner. The task is simply impossible. Every emotion which passes through the human vessel is entirely subjective to one’s own experience and understanding. A solution to this problem of universalizing an individual’s abstraction of an idea, could be to paint a metaphysical picture with the use of characteristics that are recognizable to those experiencing the same phenomenon. The use of orature in Idowu’s chapter on Olódùmaré, or Olorun, and the conception the Yoruba people have of him as articulated through his attributes, aims to alleviate Olorun as an abstraction. By expanding on Olorun’s attributes as the originator of all things, his omnipotent presence, and as the supreme judge, one can formulate a rudimentary understanding on …show more content…
Things are possible only through Olorun’s will (41). Idowu expands further with the Yoruba saying that translates into “Easy to do as that which Olódùmaré performs; difficult to do as that which Olorun enables not." Here is where one gains an understanding of Olorun that differentiates from the conception of God in other regions like that of the Igbirra people. The Igbirra believe that God does not play a hand in the day to day function of human affairs, as a remote God would do. The power of orature once again plays a vital role in illustrating Olorun’s absolute power. In describing that Olorun once stood the earth still to show the divinities his power, shows that known is above him (41). In the Yoruba sense, Olorun plays a vital role in the function of the universe. Olorun’s omnipresence adds the reality to the Yoruba that their every move is being watched by God himself. This awareness prompts one to act accordingly and in a way provides a moral compass for ethical