Next semester Samuel Elolia, professor of theology and world Christianity at Emmanuel Christian Seminary, will teach a new course offered in the Milligan curriculum: PHIL 260 African Traditional Religions and Philosophy. The course, which fulfills the ethnic study requirement, will cover centuries of pre-colonial, traditional African cultures in the southern, eastern and western regions of the continent.
Elolia says his goal for the course is for students to realize that Africa already had systems in place before colonialism and interaction between continents.
“They had kings, and rulers, and institutions of law, and business. Life was flourishing!” Elolia said.
In other words, Africa is not solely what colonizers brought over; it has its own cultures and history that are purely its own.
Elolia, who grew up in the traditional religion and culture of a Kenyan community, is aware of the problems that arise from people, including missionaries, coming to an African community with no prior knowledge of the culture there.
Having experienced both traditional religion and Christianity in the context of his childhood home, he knows how it can be difficult to reconcile the two.
“African religions are not organized like Christianity and Islam,” Elolia said. “There’s no day of worship . . . You pray when you feel like it’s time to pray.”
With such fundamental differences, he says it’s crucial for people to truly understand cultures before diving in. He hopes that this course will provide some of that understanding.
In the spring of 2018, Elolia also plans to teach a follow-up course on the influence of African cultures in the Americas. While not a prerequisite, the fall semester course is highly recommended in order for students to fully grasp the background of the spring course.