African Traditional Religion and Seventh-day Adventism in Africa: The Entanglement Debate

Abstract

Seventh-day Adventism in Africa finds itself in a complex context of maintaining its identity within traditional African religious systems. This identity struggle is partly linked to the failure of early Adventist missionaries who brought the gospel to Africa without much knowledge of African traditions. Some missionaries believed that no religious heritage existed prior to their arrival in Africa. Such an approach to missionary activities created a setback in the process of contextualizing the Christian message in the African continent. This article reflects on the identity crisis in African Seventh-day Adventism today by analysing the belief systems of African Traditional Religion and how and why many Seventh-day Adventists in Africa still find themselves entangled in traditions long after their conversion to the Adventist faith. The article presents some recommendations on how the Seventh-day Adventist Church can address the identity crisis in the denomination in Africa.

Keywords: Seventh-day Adventism in Africa, African Traditional Religion, Adventist missionaries in Africa, contextualization