Just curious, does anybody know? Was the belief in the Supreme God central in the beliefs of our people? The reason why I am asking this question is a discussion that I read in "Things Fall Apart". One of the narrators in the novel was of the belief that the idols and gods that the people served in the land were 'representatives' of The Supreme God. While the foreigner disputed those beliefs. Not that I believe in idols or gods, mine point to the Supremacy of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, but I do wonder sometimes, did our forefathers believe in the existence of the Supreme Being? If so, why was it not pronounced in our culture, but rather the worship and proliferation of idols were the order of the day during ancient times.

In questions like this, two simple answers usually pop up in my mind:

1.

Ndipe:

One of the narrators in the novel was of the belief that the idols and gods that the people served in the land were 'representatives' of The Supreme God. While the foreigner disputed those beliefs.

The 'dispute' may be understood simply on this: "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30).

2.

Ndipe:

. . but I do wonder sometimes, did our forefathers believe in the existence of the Supreme Being?

They may have had a consciousness about Him and addressed Him variously. However, the second verse that comes to my mind is: "For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." (Acts 17:23).


Anyhow, Ndipe. ,  how body?

This is a laugh. Where is the answer or where are the answers of what did forefather(s) worshipped?! I am going to bed. This is so boring.

olabowale:

I am going to bed. This is so boring.

About time - please do.

As far as I am aware the concept of God almighty, the supreme diety has always existed in Africa.  I am most familiar with yoruba religion where he is called Eledumare, I am also aware that the Igbo call him Chineke.  I believe that other african nations have names for the supreme diety but I am not familiar enough with them. 

Why was it not pronounced in our cultures?  That depends on what you mean by pronounced.  Everywhere in yorubaland people prayed to Eledumare, they made constant reference to Eledumare, they took their solace and comfort from Eledumare.  However The Worship Of Eledumare Was Not Ritualised Into A Cult.  There were rituals for Sango worship, there were rituals for Oshun worship etc but never was worship of Eledumare reduced to a Formula.  There were no Eledumare temples, and no Eledumare priests of Eledumare Cults. 

It was not just a matter of not knowing how to worship Eledumare.  There was a resistance against any cultic, ritualised, formularised approach to God.  This is well illustrated in this Ifa verse from Ogundabede:

Eke re'bi ogun odun ko de
Deceit travelled for 20 years and didn't return
Eke re ajo osu mefa ko bo
Deceit even journeyed for 6 months without returning
Otito inu ni ajeku ju iro lo.
The left over remnants of Inner Truth is still greater than falsehood
A dia fun Baba Imale ab'ewu-gereje
Thus was divined for the Imale with long flowing beards like robes.
A ni biwon d'aye tan iro ni won a maa pa.
They said that when he gets to the world he will just be a liar.
Won ni ki won rubo, won ko won ko rubo.
They were told to make sacrifice but they refused

Iro na ni awon Imale npa titi di oni oloni.
Thus have muslims been liars up till this day.
Won a ma wipe awon ngbaawe Olorun ni odoodun.
They keep claiming that they are fasting for Olorun annually
Esu wa to won lo nijokan
So Esu got on their case one day
O bere lowo won pe
He asked them a question
Kini Idi re ti won maa nwipe awon ngbaawe Olorun ni Odoodun?
Why is it that you claim to be fasting for Olorun annually
E nso nipa eyi pe Olorun ku Ni?
Are you suggesting that Olorun is dying
Tabi o ni ibanuje?
Or that God is distressed
Olorun ko ha je Otito-inu bi?
Is Olorun not Essential Truth
O ni Hen, ngbaawe Olorun, Olorun kiiku
He said Hen!, you are fasting for Olorun, yet olorun is not threatened by death
Edumare kii s'okunrun
Edumare is never sick
Oran ibanuje kiiba Olodumare.
Olodumare is never distressed
Lile ni Esu le agbajo won
Esu had to chase them away
Nitorinaa, gbogbo won si tuka lo.
because of that they were dispersed
Orin ti esu ko ni ojo naa ni:
This is the song that Esu sang on that day
A maigboku Olodumare o,
We've never heard of the death of Eledumare
A f'eke o a f'era
Only the death of the deceitful, and the mendacious.

It is very important to understand what traditionalist mean when they say that Truth is the Essential nature of God.  By truth they don't just mean Facts.  Facts are events that have occurred at some point in time.  They are temporal, whereas Truth is Eternal.  Truth is ineffable and is recognised as one and the same with Eledumare.

Again in Osa-Otura we find:

Osa-tura wi Kini Otito?
Osa otura asks, what is Truth
Emi wi Kini Otito?
I ask, what is truth
Orunmila I Otito ni oluwa orun ti nto aye
Orunmila answers that Truth is the lord of heaven ordering the Earth
Osa Otura I kinni Otito?
osa Otura again asks, what is Truth
Emi I kinni Otito?
I, too, ask what is Truth
Orunmila I otito li Eni airi ti nto aye.
Orunmila says Truth is the unseen person that Orders the world
Ogbon ti Olodoumare nlo
The Wisdom that Olodumare uses
Ogbon nla. Opolopo Ogbon
A great wisdom, and plenty of said Wisdom
Osa Otura I kinni Otito?
Osa Otura asks, What is Truth
Emi I kinni Otito?
I ask what is Truth
Orunmila wi, Otito ni Iwa Olodumare,
Orunmila answered that Truth is the character of Olodumare
Otito ni oro ti ko le subu
Truth is the subject matter that can't collapse
Ifa I Otito ni Oro ti ko le baje
Orunmila answers that Truth is the subject matter that can never go wrong
Agbara nla. Ajulo, Ire ailopin
A great power, surpassing all, the ire (blessing) that is never exhausted.
A dia fun Aye
A niki won maase Otito
Ki awon omo araye le maa mo Otito lati inu wa
kiosi le ro won lati ma se otito.

Due to the fact that the Truth was considered Ineffable it is only natural that our forefathers would have viewed with suspicion anyone that claimed to have a formula for grasping and engaging with it.

Hm,

I would like to point out here that during those days, there were Elemental Beings i.e. Nature forces. They are stilll existent and still perform their great Works in accordance with the Will of the Almighty. That we do not see them does not alter the fact that they exist. These are those Beings that people of the old saw in their times of need, especially when their loved ones are sick. The Elemental Beings appear to them and show them the herbs to pluck and concoct for the sick person.

Such was and is their Work in Creation. These Elemental Beings are present in all the activities in creation. We have those that tend the trees, flowers, rocks, waters even those that take care of human beings. They act in accordance with the Will of the Almighty. They are not God, but Element of Nature that acts His Will in creation. It was these Beings that the people of the old saw and made idols of and began to worship, since they have little or no idea of the Almighty Father then.

It is unfortunate that just like with any other thing, religion has forced us to gloss over the activity of these Beings that were and are still suppose to be our teachers as far as creation is concerned. They are such Beings that the animals heed their warnings and refuse to follow a particular path no matter how one tries to force them. It is at such moment that the animal act strange disregarding the threats from his master.

We have replaced these Beings by religion.

Please this knowledge is as documented by the Grail Message 'In the Light of Truth'.

@ mikail001,
from the first few lines of your reply, my intuition had already told me you are someway referring to that greatest work that has ever been shown to mankind.
Are you and sdherent of the grail message? we have so many here on the forum, dont know if you are cos i am.

I concur with you

Whom Did Our Forefathers Worship Prior To The Spread Of Christianity?

Judaism.

mikail001:

Hm,

I would like to point out here that during those days, there were Elemental Beings i.e. Nature forces. They are stilll existent and still perform their great Works in accordance with the Will of the Almighty. That we do not see them does not alter the fact that they exist. These are those Beings that people of the old saw in their times of need, especially when their loved ones are sick. The Elemental Beings appear to them and show them the herbs to pluck and concoct for the sick person.

They could be what are considered the Mayilekis. Mayileki eru baba mi ni nse. This means 'Don't prostrate to them, they are but my father's servants'.

I am fine, thanks@pilgrim, how about you?

Dunno how to put this, but in my tribe (Ibibio), at the beginning of folklore tales, The narrator would start off by saying, "Ekong Nke" and the audience would reply, "Nke Ekong Abasi".

An interpretation of "Nke Ekong Abasi" would mean "I crucified the Lord". Ask any Ibibio to authenticate what I just wrote.

Ndipe:

I am fine, thanks@pilgrim, how about you?

Dunno how to put this, but in my tribe (Ibibio), at the beginning of folklore tales, The narrator would start off by saying, "Ekong Nke" and the audience would reply, "Nke Ekong Abasi".

An interpretation of "Nke Ekong Abasi" would mean "I crucified the Lord". Ask any Ibibio to authenticate what I just wrote.

This is definately fascinating. I've just done a quick search and found this:

Religious Beliefs. Although religious rituals concern several deities and spirits of ancestors, it has been argued that, like the Igbo, the Ibibio believe in a Supreme Being, Abassi, who is the sky god. Abassi is generally regarded as the creator of human beings. As in Igbo religious culture, there is no specific cult or priesthood established for this supreme deity. An Ibibio myth attributes the distancing from the earth of the abode of this sky god to the pounding of an old woman's pestle.

From here: http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Ibibio-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html

Here is another one that I found about the belief in the Supreme God before the advent of Christianity. Arochukwu is given that name because the founders believed in the existence of the Supreme God. Here is the link.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arochukwu

This thread is educative

This thread is educative

@ OP

Before the advent of the. Christian pilgrims in africa, our forefathers did believe in the existence of a supreme, represented here on earth by our idols (Okija, Amadi-oha, e.t.c), and only to be approached through the priests. There were a lot of oracles each with their own specialty, kind of like the catholics have patron saints for different things. Some oracles were for bountiful harvests, some for healing from ailments and diseases, some for protection and others for conflict resolution/justice.

You see the difference between the way our forefathers worshipped and the mordern day christian religion isn't really that different. Eg both religions did require sacrifices to appease the supreme being. The only problem was that some of the priest did get rather carried away in their interpretation of the law especially with the sacrifice of humans and some also got selfish and corrupt and started using the name of the gods for other thins. The only difference I see btw the religion of old and that of now is that unlike christianity where the supreme bieng is responsible for all manner of intercessions, the gods of our forefathers had specialties, also where christianity has the son of God as the sacrifice, that of our forefathers had no son, but rather smaller gods with special powers who did require sacrifices to appease them,

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ the christian jesus to Supreme God Almighty is equivalent in process to the forefather 'idols' to Supreme God Almighty.


Every culture believes there is Supreme God Almighty Who creates.

Every person intuitively, ingrained in this belief. but of course the renegades 'atheist, etc' denies Him, similar to Charles Manson denial of his killing spree as thing unnatural, evil and unacceptable. he even swastika his own forehead bringing out the evil in his heart for future generation to learn from; avoid if you have any good in you, imitate to some degree if you have overwhelming evil in you.

what?natrue