Showing papers on "Supreme Being published in 2018"
04 Oct 2018
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors make a collection of selected deities in Igbo worldview, and while arraying these deities, they maintain that the idea of Supreme Being is very strong in Ibo traditional religion.
Abstract: Pantheon is a concept that is associated with religious worldviews that are considered polytheistic, usually to capture their gods and goddesses. Focusing on the Igbo world, this work makes a collection of selected deities in Igbo worldview. While arraying these deities, it maintains that the idea of Supreme Being is very strong in Igbo traditional religion. Thus, while there is a multiplicity of lesser gods, there has always been only one Supreme Being who is the source of all that there is, including the deities themselves. If we look at this issue from the perspective that these deities are only deans or messengers of the Supreme Being then there would be no conflict of supremacy. And in fact the supremacy of the Supreme Being points to the fact that Igbo traditional religion is a religion of structure, inextricably bound up with the total structure of Igbo traditional life. It is within this structure that the Igbo person’s existence, welfare and destiny are totally caught up. The hermeneutic approach is employed for the purpose of this study.
2 citations
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The role of Onyankopʼn and some other spirit beings in the Akan spiritual cosmology and the various roles they play in the affairs of human is discussed in this article.
Abstract: African tradition and thought consider spirits to be elements of power, force, authority, and vital energy underlying all existence. There is therefore this huge fear of what goes on in the unseen world since spirits are known to operate in this realm. Invisible though this power may be, Africans perceive it directly. This has led to the adoption of all manner of strategies in order to get closer to Onyankopɔn , ‘the Supreme Being’ so that the necessary support and protection may be received. Without the spirits, the Akan feels that there is no way to reach God. In this paper I will discuss the role of Onyankopɔn , ‘the Supreme Being’ and some other spirit beings in the Akan spiritual cosmology and the various roles they play in the affairs of human. Key words: Onyankopɔn , ahonhom , Akan, ancestors, deities, spirits, abosom
1 citations
05 Jan 2018
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reveal that the Orisas are divinities because they are seen as the offspring of Olódùmarè, who is seen as a supreme being and whose power is absolute.
Abstract: Traditional societies such as the Yoruba and the Chinese share a lot in common. Their values and traditions are modelled on rules and regulations set by supernatural beings or deities. Both societies have historical trajectories that reveals that certain deities have transcendental origins, unique attributes and supreme qualities that are based on an unquestionable truth. The Yoruba cosmology discloses the supremacy of Olódùmarè, who is seen as a supreme being and whose power is absolute. His uniqueness and preeminence is seen by all and acknowledged accordingly. Also from Yoruba cosmology we learn that the Orisas are divinities because they are seen as the offspring of Olódùmarè. Other Yoruba divinities include obatala (lady of mercy), Ogun (the patron of blacksmiths, metallurgists, soldiers, hunters), Sango (the divinity of vengeance) and Osun Seegesi (the elegant deity of wealth).
1 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines Abasi as a name of the God among the Ibibio from philo-ontos-linguistic perspectives and comes to the conclusion that not only is it true that the ibibio nay Africans in general have a superlative idea of God but that the African idea is more humanistic and existentially relevant than that of the West thus solving the attendant difficulties of explaining the relationship between God and the world and the issue of the problem of evil which resulted in such idea as Dues abscunditus in Western conception of God.
Abstract: Some scholars like Rabbi Ini Mbebeng, Rabbi Ettah Essien and Prof Udo Etuk have argued against Ibibio nay Africans having the idea of Supreme Being identical with that of the West given their polytheistic conception of God with attendant pan-theistic proclivities. On the other hand, scholars like Idowu regard such position as anachronistic and retrogressive since African has what he calls, “diffused monotheistic” idea of God which in description and analysis is similar to that of Western typology. This article as a contribution to that debate examines Abasi as a name of the God among the Ibibio from philo-ontos-linguistic perspectives and comes to the conclusion that not only is it true that the Ibibio nay Africans in general have a superlative idea of God but that the African idea of God is more humanistic and existentially relevant than that of the West thus solving the attendant difficulties of explaining the relationship between God and the world and the issue of the problem of evil which resulted in such idea as Dues abscunditus in Western conception of God.
12 Oct 2018
TL;DR: The second in a series, focusing on middle Modern secularist documents entitled "catechism" or "confession", was published by Voltaire in the 1760s as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: This article is the second in a series, focusing on middle Modern secularist documents entitled "catechism" or "confession"; intending to understand this peculiar phenomenon. Here I am trying to disclose the format and contents of five catechisms published by Voltaire (in the 1760s) and to link this to the idea of catechisms and confessions as discussed in another article. Voltaire apparently initiated the writing of secular catechisms. Catechisms are preparatory confessions of religious commitment to true doctrine and associated lifestyles to be confessed to and lived by. Voltaire chose the format of a catechism for satirical, dialogical attacks on intolerance, superstition, and irrational beliefs; also to express his own faith in a universal supreme being, the god of a rational civil society controlled by a totalitarian philosophical government, a rational soul that is immortal (and will receive reward or punishment in an afterlife), a life of honest work, justice, dignity, under "natural law"—the commandment of love inscribed a priori in the hearts of all humankind. The catechisms expressed a substitute religion, a confessional faith in scientific and practical reason, within a liberal, enlightened, totalitarian civil society—a Modern cultic replacement for Christianity combining Classical ideas with a Modern philosophy of power.