Continuities and changes of religion in Sub-saharan Africa Essay

Sub-saharan Africa has undergone changes with religion such as the changing of religious affiliation to Christianity and the practices of cosmology and ontology, however, Sub-saharan Africa has also remained constant with their thoughts being focused on various beliefs like a creator and evil. Christianity was predominantly the main religion in Sub-saharan Africa opposed to the Muslims of North Africa. Christianity in the Americas slowly began to send out missionaries to spread the Gospel and build churches in Africa. The people began to form their daily lives and rituals accordingly and the population of Christians rose from about 9% to around 63% over the years from the 1900’s to modern day. Missions in Africa is most definitely something that Christians in other part of the world have focused on. It seems to be a more targeted area for its other religious practices such as cosmology and ontology. Cosmology and Ontology are more philosophical beliefs in nature, evolution, and the way the world works. In Africa, many small tribes are closed off from communication outside of their tribe, and have practiced certain beliefs for hundreds of years. This belief system tends to lean towards the more relaxed â€Å"religion† and allows freedom for the people in those tribes to do what they want as long as it is â€Å"parallel to what is right in nature†. Everything in this philosophical study is that of nature. Nature is considered holy and worthy of worship. Cosmology and Ontology are how Sub-Saharan Africans attempted to explain our complex world in the simplest way possible that makes sense to them. There were also other beliefs that Sub-saharan Africans developed over time such as the belief in evil beings and â€Å"eternal paradise†. Sub-saharan Africans soon realized that there needed to be some kind of an explanation for what happens when you die, or what evil is. These details did not necessarily help form a new religion, but rather simply added on top of the religions already in place in the Sub-saharan region. In the Niger-congo area, there was a common belief in spirits, a creator of the universe rather than evolution. In other areas, there was the belief in the worship and idolization of ones personal gods whom they gave thanks to and credited much of their life to. These tribes lived their lives to please their gods in order to win favor and win a long and prosperous life. This is also something that was seen in Ancient Greece where Greek Mythology and the worship of gods took place. These people too, lived to please the gods to live a good life. In conclusion, Sub-saharan African has undergone changes in religion such as Christianity and Cosmology, but there was also factors that remained constant throughout the existence of Sub-saharan Africa such as little tribes who believe in pleasing personal gods.