Notes on Africa, Bias, and the World Religions Canon

Bias in the World Religions Canon

• The 1893 Congress of World Religions in Chicago produced a massive reference work (a book described as literally five inches thick) that covered all the world religions except African religions. This is cited as a striking example of bias in early Western religious studies and set a pattern for neglecting Africa in curricula and textbooks. 1893
• This bias persists in many religious studies courses and textbooks, where African religion is often left out or treated in much smaller, separate segments compared to other traditions. By contrast, some courses might present Buddhists as a larger group and treat them separately. The present author’s textbook includes a substantial section on African religions, illustrating a shift toward a more inclusive approach.
• The neglect was not only numerical but also qualitative: African sacrifices and rites could be glossed over or described as merely “similar to elsewhere in the world,” rather than analyzed in their own terms (an example given about sacrifice): the text contrasted African rituals with Indian practices (cows and sacrifice) but failed to engage African sacrifice with depth.
• The author argues that this form of bias constitutes a biased canon in religious studies textbooks that has required explicit correction in recent years.
• Contextual note: the term “African religion” is treated as a distinct category rather than a composite of many diverse faiths and traditions; the bias often collapses diversity into a caricature.

Africa and the Enlightenment: Biases and Racism in European Thought

• The Enlightenment is depicted as a period during which Africa, Africans, and African religions were systematically downgraded by leading European thinkers. This marks a shift from earlier medieval Europe, where Africans were more visible in culture and religion.
• Notable early voices and their sentiments include:
  • Voltaire: widely cited as a progenitor of modern racism, with racist caricatures and claims about Africans.
  • David Hume: alleged that there was no civilized nation of any other complexion than white; suggested Native or African groups were inferior.
  • Jean-Jacques Rousseau: described Africans in demeaning terms about dignity, intelligence, and civilization.
  • Immanuel Kant: proposed a racial hierarchy with Europeans at the top and argued for segregation on theoretical grounds (less explicit than Hume or Voltaire, but still racist).
  • Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: explicitly disparaged the Negro as existing in a state of wild, untamed nature and suggested Africa be left out of historical consideration.
• The presentation emphasizes that these racist views were not only personal prejudices but became embedded in public discourse and textbooks, shaping the foundational period of modern religious studies.
• The slide also notes the emergence of explicit racism in European literature from this era, with Voltaire, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, and Hegel cited as exemplars. A carnival scene from apartheid-era South Africa is used to illustrate the persistence of racial caricature in popular culture.

The Emergence of World Religions as an Academic Field

• Max Müller (a German-born scholar who moved to Oxford) popularized the systematic study of world religions and created a canon of translations titled the Sacred Books of the World. The project included translations of the Koran, Hadith, Jewish scriptures, Hindu texts, and Buddhist writings, among others, but notably excluded Africa.
• Key points about Müller and the canon:
  • Müller helped establish the modern study of world religions in British and North American universities, largely via English-language scholarship.
  • Despite Müller’s own fascination with Africa and African religions in his theoretical writings, he published little on African texts, possibly because most African religious traditions were oral, leaving few written sources for translation.
  • The atlas of canonical texts thus favored Asia and Europe, with Africa conspicuously absent from the published corpus.
• The Reverend Londo Schembby is introduced as a prominent African religious leader outside Durban, associated with the Amonazareta movement (an African independent church). He was assassinated in April 1989, a significant event mentioned to illustrate the real-world stakes and dangers in African religious leadership.
• The Ecopacameni (region near Durban) is named in relation to the Amonazareta movement and its leadership, underscoring the presence of sophisticated African religious organization beyond missionary churches.

Africa in Early Christianity and the Roman World

• The text argues that Africa was not marginal in the ancient world but was integrated into the Roman world and early Christianity more than is commonly acknowledged in standard textbooks.
• Roman trade and contact extended to Ethiopia and Nubia (modern Sudan), and the Red Sea corridor enabled trade with India and other regions, showing Africa’s centrality in the ancient world economy.
• The Nile region and the Sudan housed ancient Christian communities and cave churches dating to the early centuries of Christianity, indicating a long-standing Christian presence in Africa.
• Early Christian leaders and figures of African origin or strong African association include:
  • Petilian of Carthage (originating from a Roman family in North Africa).
  • Tertullian (early Christian writer from Carthage) and Athanasius (associated with Alexandria).
  • Augustine the Hippo (Arguably the most famous early African church father).
• The presentation notes that many early Christian communities in Africa contributed to Christian theology and culture, challenging a narrative that African Christianity is a late or marginal development.
• The argument is made with reference to art and iconography:
  • Early medieval art often depicts Africans in icons and paintings, including depictions of a brown-skinned or darker M. The three kings (Magi) in medieval imagery sometimes include African figures, illustrating the presence and respect for Africans in Christian iconography.
  • The Magdeburg Cathedral contains depictions of Africans in Christian scenes, including African leaders depicted alongside European figures in exchanges with the Pope.
• The narrative emphasizes that Africa’s historical presence complicates the standard modern account, which often underplays Africa’s role in ancient Christian history and world Christianity.

African Rituals, Healing, and Social Practice

• Initiation rites among South African peoples are described to illustrate African ritual sophistication:
  • An initiation ceremony for young men (described as lasting six weeks in the present scene; historically, such rites could last up to a year) marks the transition to adulthood and eligibility for marriage.
  • The ritual is contextualized within social life and the mining economy (laborers in Johannesburg). The ritual is presented as a crucial part of cultural identity and social structure.
• Sacrifice is highlighted as a central ritual in many African religious expressions; the talk contrasts African sacrifice with other world traditions (e.g., Indian sacrifices with cows) to show superficial similarities and deeper cultural differences.
• The ethical dimension of ritual practice is connected to how ritual actions are interpreted by outsiders and by scholars who may mischaracterize African religion as mere “gestures” rather than as full, meaningful religious systems.
• An example of African healing traditions is given through the account of a Durban healer named Estelle:
  • Estelle operated a two-room practice: one space for dancing and ritual work, and another where she met with clients, diagnosed their problems, and prescribed medicines.
  • She described illnesses as caused by unhappy ancestors and social or ancestral misdeeds, which required ritual correction, while also advising clients to seek Western medical care for physiological symptoms.
  • Her practice demonstrated a practical, collaborative relationship between traditional African healing and Western medicine in Durban, showing a pluralistic medical system that integrates indigenous understandings with modern healthcare.
• The discussion notes that Africans have historically been integrative thinkers, capable of rational inquiry and sophisticated religious systems, contrasting with later Enlightenment-era caricatures and biases.

African Iconography, Aesthetics, and Spiritual Life

• The text presents examples of African icons and religious art to challenge stereotypes of Africa as lacking refined religious expression:
  • An Upper Egyptian icon (Mary and Jesus) demonstrates the presence of sophisticated visual religious culture in Africa, comparable to Orthodox Christian traditions elsewhere.
  • African religious art includes icons and sacred images in Orthodox Christian and other African Christian communities, not limited to Europe.
• The discourse emphasizes that African religious culture has produced sophisticated material culture, including art, ritual objects, and sacred imagery that deserve serious scholarly attention.

The Role of Ninian Smart and Textbook Representation

• Ninian Smart is discussed as a foundational figure in religious studies, but his treatment of Africa evolved over time:
  • In his first edition (1969), Africa received only about five pages in a 576-page book.
  • In a revised edition (1989), Africa received about 19 pages, still a relatively small portion given the size of the text.
• The broader pattern across many textbooks (including early ones) is that Africa was largely omitted or relegated to brief mentions:
  • Trevor Ling’s History of Religions East and West (1979) provides minimal or no mention of Africa.
  • Edwin W. Smith’s The Religions of Lower Races (1923) used a racist framing, labeling African beliefs as elementary and practices as “religions of fear.”
  • John Bellamy, Charles Goodrich, James Gardner, and other early world-religions texts similarly left Africa underrepresented or ignored.
• The trajectory shows a gradual, ongoing correction toward including Africa in the canon, but the passage argues the representation remains disproportionately small relative to Africa’s historical and contemporary religious diversity.
• The narrative also notes the broader political-ethnic context: early encyclopedic and textbook efforts often mirrored imperial and racist assumptions, influencing how Africa was presented academically.

Africa in the Medieval and Early Modern World

• The text challenges the stereotype of Africa as a modern, only peripheral presence by citing medieval African and Afro-European connections:
  • The presence of black Africans in Europe’s religious and intellectual life during the medieval period, contrasting with later Enlightenment-era biases.
  • The existence of African emperors and leaders in Christian imagery and the occasional depiction of Africans as part of Christian scholarship and leadership roles in Europe.
• It is argued that religious studies, by neglecting Africa in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, effectively erased a significant portion of Christian and world-history that involved Africa.

Rome, Christianity, and Africa: A Historical Continuum

• The map analogy: the Roman world’s reach included Africa and its surrounding regions, with trade routes linking Rome to India and even China. The continent was not marginal in the Roman economy or religious life; rather, Africa formed an integral part of the Roman world.
• The Sudan and Ethiopia are highlighted as historical centers of Christianity with long-standing, distinct Christian traditions — emphasizing Africa’s centrality to early Christian history rather than its peripheral status in later narratives.
• Early Christian theologians connected to Africa include Tertullian, Athanasius, and Augustine, with Augustine’s City of God and Confessions continuing to influence Christian thought.
• The “Africans in Christianity” theme reframes the narrative: Africa contributed to the Christian tradition from its early centuries, including in theological development and church leadership.

Visualizing Africa’s Religious Heritage: Icons and Crusader Imagery

• The talk references visual representations that show Africans in religious contexts:
  • Ethiopian and Upper Egyptian icons illustrating advanced religious art produced in Africa.
  • Medieval Crusader imagery in Magdeburg Cathedral featuring African figures, challenging assumptions about racial hierarchies in medieval Europe.
• These images serve to demonstrate that African religious presence and influence were more nuanced and widespread than later works of Western scholarship often suggested.

Thematic Synthesis: Why the Bias Matters and Real-World Implications

• The central thesis is that the neglect and biased portrayal of African religions in scholarly work has had lasting implications for how students understand world religions, ethics, and cross-cultural relations.
• The lecture stresses the importance of a corrective approach: recognizing Africa’s historical centrality in religion, including its ancient Christian heritage, and acknowledging the sophisticated ritual, healing, and artistic practices that define African religious life.
• Ethical and practical implications include rethinking curricula to avoid essentializing Africa, appreciating intracultural diversity, and understanding how racialized histories have shaped modern scholastic norms and public discourse.

Aside: End-of-Lecture Anecdotes and Class Logistics

• The transcript ends with a long aside about class logistics and casual dialogue among students and the instructor, including:
  • References to class resources such as Anna’s Archive and other online materials.
  • A casual discussion about office hours, campus facilities, and coffee runs.
  • A short, end-of-class: a plan to resume with the next portion of the lecture.
• While not central to the academic content, these remarks illustrate how students engage with the material in real classroom settings and the social dynamics around course logistics.

Key Figures, Works, and Terms to Remember

• Max Müller and the Sacred Books of the World: canon of translations that omitted Africa; celebrated the need to know world religions, yet Africa was left out. 50 books in the canon (approximate).
• The 1893 World Congress of Religion in Chicago: the sample volume on world religions that excluded Africa. 1893
• Londo Schembby: leader of the Amonazareta (African independent church) in Ecopacameni near Durban; assassinated in April 1989.
• Anton Wilhelm Amo (Amo): a Black European scholar who studied philosophy and operated in Germany in the eighteenth century; later associated with African intellectual history and the idea of African scholars contributing to European thought; the monument to Amo and his wife stands in Germany.
• Ethiopian and Upper Egyptian Christian arts: icons from Upper Egypt; Ethiopian icon traditions; continuity of Christian religious expressions in Africa.
• Early Christian figures connected to Africa:
  • Tertullian (Carthage), Athanasius (Alexandria), Augustine the Hippo (Hippo Regius, modern-day Algeria).
• Early modern and Enlightenment thinkers and their Africa-related biases:
  • Voltaire, Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel; quotes and attitudes illustrating racialized thinking that influenced scholarly discourse.
• The reception of African religion in early Western scholarship:
  • Edwin W. Smith (The Religions of Lower Races, 1923) – explicitly racist framing that labeled African religions as primitive and fear-based.
  • Trevor Ling (A History of Religions East and West, 1979) – limited to no mention of Africa in the narrative.
• The shift in Ninian Smart’s treatment of Africa between editions: from a small to a somewhat larger but still modest treatment of African religions. 1969 and 1989 editions.

Connections to Foundational Principles and Real-World Relevance

• The material connects to broader themes in religious studies and the history of scholarship:
  • The problem of canon bias and how the selection of texts and case studies shapes the field’s understanding of world religions.
  • The interplay between scholarship, empire, and race; how racial ideologies have influenced academic norms.
  • The importance of a pluralistic, inclusive curriculum that recognizes Africa’s long and diverse religious traditions, including ancient Christianity, indigenous rituals, and contemporary religious movements.
• Real-world relevance includes understanding the roots of ongoing disparities in knowledge about Africa and the need for scholarly reform to reflect Africa’s historical and cultural significance.

Formulas, Dates, and Numerical References to Memorize

• Key dates and counts mentioned in the transcript:
  • 1893 — World Congress of Religion in Chicago; Africa omitted from the canonical volume.
  • 5 inches — the approximate thickness of the World Religions volume discussed.
  • 1905 (referred to as “nineteen o five”) — period when African traditional religionists existed in larger numbers but remained underrepresented in studies.
  • 50 books — approximate size of Müller’s Sacred Books of the World canon.
  • 1923 — publication year of Edwin W. Smith’s The Religions of Lower Races.
  • 1969 — original publication year of Ninian Smart’s first major work on world religions.
  • 1989 — revised edition of Smart’s work, which expanded Africa coverage to 19 pages.
  • April 1989 — assassination of London Schembby (Londo Schembby).
  • 1703 to 1759 — lifespan of Anton Wilhelm Amo (Amo) as noted on the monument; Amo is cited as an African scholar who achieved recognition in eighteenth-century Europe.
• These dates help situate the evolution of Africa’s place in religious studies and show how representations shifted over time.

Summary Takeaways

• Africa has been historically underrepresented or misrepresented in the canonical study of world religions, a situation rooted in Enlightenment-era racism and long-lived textual biases.
• African Christianity and religious practices have ancient roots and complex, sophisticated expression, including early Christian leaders of African origin and enduring rituals, healing practices, and art forms.
• Modern scholarship has begun to address these biases, but significant work remains to integrate Africa’s diverse religious landscapes into core curricula and canonical histories.
• Understanding Africa’s religious heritage requires analyzing both textual histories and material culture (art, ritual practices, healing traditions, and social life) and recognizing the ongoing intersections of indigenous beliefs with global religious traditions.