Nigeria is probably the most religious country in the world outside of the USA. It is ironic that the favorite god in Nigeria is the Abrahamic god from the Middle East traditions. Nigeria's contact with this Abrahamic god is relatively new, no more than about 300 years old.

What really persuaded the Nigerian 200 - 300 years ago to abandon their own superstitions and adopt the superstitions of their invaders and colonisations?

How would a seventeenth century Nigerian have evaluated the following concepts? What tools or cognitive disciplines did they have to objectively scrutinize the narrative of the Abrahamic gods?

1) Virgin birth
2) Ascension
3) Global Flood
4) Trinity

Duh!!

Why dont you wake them up and ask them?

Huxley

300 years ago there was no Nigeria.

~Lady~:

Huxley

300 years ago there was no Nigeria.

Haha!!!

Interesting question, I know very little about African religions before Christianity. This just shows how good the task of erasing our indigenous culture has been done.

~Lady~:

Huxley

300 years ago there was no Nigeria.

Lame answer. Yes there was no Nigeria 300 years ago, just as there was no Igbo, Yoruba, Hausas, etc!

huxley:

Lame answer. Yes there was no Nigeria 300 years ago, just as there was no Igbo, Yoruba, Hausas, etc!

@ bolded: there probably was. Just not within the exact boundaries they are today.

tpia:

@ bolded: there probably was. Just not within the exact boundaries they are today.

oh boy, oh boy. The sarcasm was wasted on you. Oh dear.

huxley:

oh boy, oh boy. The sarcasm was wasted on you. Oh dear.

oh, were you being sarcastic?


didnt seem that way, since you're so literal most times.

So try to rephrase your original question in a manner that people can understand.

Not the original post, but just this comment:

Yes there was no Nigeria 300 years ago, just as there was no Igbo, Yoruba, Hausas, etc

huxley:

Not the original post, but just this comment:

why do you feel these people you mention, were first exposed to Christianity and Islam 300 years ago?

Are you guessing or do you have some proof?

tpia:

why do you feel these people you mention, were first exposed to Christianity and Islam 300 years ago?

Are you guessing or do you have some proof?

I just picked an arbitrary time in the past when I think there would have been no more that a handful (if any) of Christians in the territory that is now Nigeria. 300 years seems a save bet. But it could be 310, 367 or 400. Basically, if you go back far enough, there will come a point when they were no believers in the Abrahamic god in Nigeria.

What was the foundation for assessing claims and understanding reality in pre-christian Nigeria? Would a pre-christian Igbo or Yoruba have found the idea of virgin birth believable?

huxley, you imply that the US is the second most religious country in the world. That is simply not true. Maybe if you're talking of developed nations possibly, but African and South American countries are far more religious than the U.S.

huxley:

I just picked an arbitrary time in the past when I think there would have been no more that a handful (if any) of Christians in the territory that is now Nigeria. 300 years seems a save bet. But it could be 310, 367 or 400. Basically, if you go back far enough, there will come a point when they were no believers in the Abrahamic god in Nigeria.

What was the foundation for assessing claims and understanding reality in pre-christian Nigeria? Would a pre-christian Igbo or Yoruba have found the idea of virgin birth believable?

first of all,  there are no pre-Christian Nigerians who can respond to your enquiry. They are all dead.



secondly, you seem to be begging the question here:

Would a pre-christian Igbo or Yoruba have found the idea of virgin birth believable?

they obviously already did, hence your wondering in the first place.

tpia:

first of all, there are no pre-Christian Nigerians who can respond to your enquiry. They are all dead.



secondly, you seem to be begging the question here:

they obviously already did, hence your wondering in the first place.

Are you so bereft of ideas that you cannot even make an educated guess? What are you afraid of discovering?

huxley:

Are you so bereft of ideas that you cannot even make an educated guess? What are you afraid of discovering?

do you never know when to drop an argument?

By now you should know this particular topic makes no sense.

Why not just make whatever point you're trying to make here and move on?

Hello.
Yes there were no christians in Nigeria then,not one;but there is the mass of land that is later to be called Nigeria and the people there prayed to the gods who they believed in and believe it or not those gods gave them victory in wars and territorial conquest and answered and grant them their wishes.
The people of old here or in Africa before they harangued us into accepting Christianity.worshiped gods and God though they did not have a specific guidebook then.
But they have conscience and that guided them.

james1:

Hello.
Yes there were no christians in Nigeria then,not one;but there is the mass of land that is later to be called Nigeria and the people there prayed to the gods who they believed in and believe it or not those gods gave them victory in wars and territorial conquest and answered and grant them their wishes.
The people of old here or in Africa before they harangued us into accepting Christianity.worshiped gods and God though they did not have a specific guidebook then.
But they have conscience and that guided them.

But I'm sure that those that lost in battle also prayed to their gods.

Lame answer. Yes there was no Nigeria 300 years ago, just as there was no Igbo, Yoruba, Hausas, etc!

Well if you really wanna get technical. Christianity hit the heart of West Africa in the 15th century, that was the 1400s. It's been well over 300 years. To be exact it has been about 500 or so years. And that is just the heart of West Africa.
But it was already lingering around way way way before then.

We already know that before coonialisation they were already trading with west africans for a long time. I know mostly about the trading with The Great Benin Kingdom.

But if Christianity is the problem of West Africa, then you are highly mistaken. Most of us thought that twins should be killed when born, so Christianity put a stop to that, but hey all Christianity did was make us hate each other, right?

~Lady~:


But if Christianity is the problem of West Africa, then you are highly mistaken. Most of us thought that twins should be killed when born, so Christianity put a stop to that, but hey all Christianity did was make us hate each other, right?

most of us? i thought the killing of twins was limited to calabar and the eastern region. the missions did more harm than good.

most of us? i thought the killing of twins was limited to calabar and the eastern region. the missions did more harm than good.

hmm you may be wrong or i may be wrong, but he did mention igbo people and that's what juggled my memory. there are more practices than the killing of twins that were very immoral.
i would like to know the more harm than good that the missionaries did though. thank you, and try to shorten it for me to read thanks.

~Lady~:

hmm you may be wrong or i may be wrong, but he did mention igbo people and that's what juggled my memory. there are more practices than the killing of twins that were very immoral.
i would like to know the more harm than good that the missionaries did though. thank you, and try to shorten it for me to read thanks.

Bad

promoting the idea that european culture was superior to african culture
acting as agents for foreign trade companies
reluctant to allow africans to rise through the religious heirachy(racism), this led to the creation of the aladura, african methodist church and other african churches.
indifference about slavery.
the inability of the missions to enter the north has create a tense religious dichotomy in nigeria. the same can be seen in sudan

Good

promoting education
campaigning against human sacrifices and enhancing healthcare.

ah what a relief to have bawomolo back. Your wit was sorely missed.

reluctant to allow africans to rise through the religious heirachy(racism), this led to the creation of the aladura, african methodist church and other african churches.

Francois Libermann
[url]http://www.dacb.org/stories/non%20africans/libermann_francois.html[/url]

Please do more research on this issue before you make assumptions. there were many african priests and saints, and yes west african too.
My Patron Saint Monica is an African woman. I chose her because of that, and because of the struggle that she had as a mother and wife, she reminded me of my mother.

acting as agents for foreign trade companies

explain the con of this please.

the inability of the missions to enter the north has create a tense religious dichotomy in nigeria. the same can be seen in sudan

like i said do some more research on it.