Overview
Features an ethnographical investigation on the Jukun of north central Nigeria
Examines and compares the religious experience of an African group with a European one
Synthesizes archival records from both colonial and missionary sources with contemporary oral interviews
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Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
- British Colonialism, Missionaries in Nigeria
- Christian Missions in Africa
- Christianity in Nigeria
- Inculturation of Christianity in Africa
- Insider’s Perspective and Christianization in Africa
- Irish and Romanization
- Irish Christianization
- Jukun Religion and Christian Missionaries
- Religions of Nigeria
- Religious Change in Europe and Africa
About this book
This book examines and compares the religious experience of an African group with a European one. It offers an ethnographical investigation of the Jukun of north central Nigeria. The author also organically weaves into the narrative the Christianization of the Irish in a comparative fashion. Throughout, he makes the case for an African Christianity connected to a Celtic Irish Christianity and vice-versa -- as different threads in a tapestry.
This work is a product of a synthesis of archival research in three continents, interviews with surviving first-generation Christians who were active practitioners of the Jukun indigenous religion, and with former missionaries to the Jukun. On the Irish side, it draws from extant primary sources and interviews with scholars in Celtic Irish studies. In addition, pictures, diagrams, and excerpts from British colonial and missionary journals provide a rich contextual understanding of Jukun religious life and practices. The author is among the emerging voices in the study of World Christianity who advocate for the reality of "poly-centres" for Christianity. This perspective recognizes voices from the Global South in the expansion of Christianity. This book serves as a valuable resource for historians, anthropologists, theologians, and those interested in missions studies, both scholars and lay readers seeking to deepen their understanding of World Christianity.Reviews
“Scholars investigating processes of conversion and socio-cultural transformation will welcome Nathan Elawa’s ambitious examination of Christian missionary encounters with indigenous religions in medieval Ireland and twentieth-century Nigeria. … A lesson worth remembering in many contexts.” (Nova Religio, Vol. 25 (4), May, 2022)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Understanding Religious Change in Africa and Europe: Crossing Latitudes
Book Subtitle: The Christianization of Jukun of Nigeria and Celtic Irish in Early Medieval Europe
Authors: Nathan Irmiya Elawa
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-42180-9
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-42179-3Published: 16 April 2020
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-42182-3Published: 16 April 2021
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-42180-9Published: 15 April 2020
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXIII, 183
Number of Illustrations: 16 b/w illustrations
Topics: Comparative Religion, Cultural Studies, African Culture