African Religion Essay

African Religions Africa is the second largest continent in the world. Africa is the home of many different ethnic and linguistic groups. There are nearly 3,000 different groups. The population of Africa is 700 million. Because Africa was the continent of slaves many years ago, it gave African religions the opportunity to advance throughout the world. In fact, there are many ancient African religion sculptures that were found outside of Africa. A scholar and a book writer by the name of Molefi K. Asante stated:
The Olmec civilization of Mexico, the first complex culture of the Americas, is thought to have been influenced by the classical African civilizations of Ethiopia, Kemet, and Meroe […] the civilization shifted to La Venta, where huge African heads of basalt have been found. Weighing several tons and resembling the faces and hairstyles of Africans of the same period of time […] Olmec civilization was the first civilization established by Africans outside of the continent of Africa. (22-23) In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Africa became under the control of European colonial rule. African religions became vanished because of European control and stereotypes, many Africans converted into Islam and Christianity. African religions are very important even though African religions are …show more content…
One of the most common religious specialists in Africa is the spiritual curer. Most Africans believe that people’s illness is religious as well as a natural cause. The spiritual curer’s job is to find the cause of illness and prescribe a cure. Africans believe that illness is from a spell or curse placed by lesser spirits or ancestors. The spiritual curer will find out what made the spirits angry and try to find a cure or salvation for the problem. Noel Q. King who wrote Religions of Africa