Exploring Religious Experience in Nigerian Igbo Indigenous Religious Tradition: Toward a Christianity and Church with an Indigenous Face

Religious experience, though deeply personal, is shaped by socially acquired beliefs and symbols from one's religious tradition. This article argues that in Igbo society, the indigenous religious tradition's emphasis on spirits and spirit possession has been creatively reworked within prophetic, Charismatic, and Pentecostal Christian movements into experiences of the Holy Spirit, used for healing and community edification. The dominance of spirit phenomena in Igbo indigenous religion thus influences how Christian faith is translated and experienced locally.

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Abstract

Various religious systems potentially generate religious experience for their adherents. Although religious experience is a particularly personal subjective involvement with the sacred, it, nevertheless, possesses a social element, in that socially acquired beliefs, rooted in religious traditions and symbolisms provide the cultural repertoire into which the individual is both socialized and draws upon for deeper personal meaning. This article explores how Igbo indigenous religious tradition shapes the translation and experience of the Christian faith in Igbo society. We argue that the dominance of spirits’ phenomenon in Igbo indigenous religious tradition, including spirit possession, has been creatively reworked mostly in prophetic, Charismatic, and Pentecostal versions of Christianity into experiences of the Holy Spirit for healing and edification of the community. KEYWORDS: Cross-Cultural Translation. Decolonial Turn. Public-Religion. Ecclesial Structures. Trinity.