ANCESTRAL WORSHIP; IS ITA:

BLACK AFRICAN RELIGION OR:

JUST A PAGAN RELIGION?By GoodEnough B. Mthembu.

AFRICEN TNEWTIONET RELIGIONftrry

Welcome to the talk on Alrican Trs-ditionalReligionr- lcnown as Ancentrul ,worship;because at the heart of ATR is Ancestral\ilorship. We going to look at thet humandescription and God's description of it; andthe fact that Ancestral worship is just oPagan religion ond its not compatible withChristianity,I don't like the title ATR, because it falselyimply that Ancestral worship is only forAfrican People; mainly Black Africans.The reason why I have a problem with that; isbecause:,,the Bible Teoches thst ATR is not aBlack African Religian;,but a Cross Cultaral

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und Cross Ethnieitjt, Pagan Religion.It knows no cultural or ethnicity boundaries.Having said that;,it is true that ancestralworship is prevalcu!-amongst us blackAfrians.Let us look at the: '

I.HT]MAN DESCRIPTION OF ANCEST-ANCESTRAL WORSHIP:

Black Africans are notoriously very religious.Religion penneates the ideal Black Africanfrom the Cradle to the grave. That's thereason why ATR is made out of three maingomponentss,L. Belief in the supreme being;2. The spirit world;, And mystical powers.

Throughout Africa different peoples willemphasize one or all of these. Although ATRsare united in their pagannature; they are sodiverse in practice.

In my talk I'm focusing on answering thequestiont*'Is Ancestral Worship A BlackAfrican Religion Or Just A Pagan Religion?

Unfortunately, most of what I'll be sayinghere, will be based on personal experience andobservation, largely on the beliefs andpractices of the Zulus of which I used to bepart of before switching allegience.It is my opinion that the church has done a

major disservice in not seeking to understand>

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the belief systems of the people it seeks tominister to;.and thereby, offering a faith or aJesus that is foreign and inferior.

At this point it is worth mentioning that;Ancestral Worship among Black African*ooriginated from people trying to reach Godwho was known as (uMvelikuqala) the onewho appeared first.

God was known as a distant God from Hiscreation; and people only got closer to Himafter death.

Thereforel dead people became mediatorsbetween God and people.

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Another thing worth mentioning is that;Ancestral Worship is a religion that iscontroled by fear;. because dead people arebelieved to have Power tu protect; to kilt;and to bring hlessings or curses upon us.

It is also believed thats We are to alwoysplease them, because if we don't; they won,tspeak to God on our behalf; and bad thingswill befull us.

ATR is part of pagan Ethnicity's Ethoq and anunderstanding of it should go hand in handwith Christian Evangelism.

There are three points I like to briefly draw to5.

your attention; with regard to HumanDescription of Ancestral Worship*

1) The concept of God; 2) The concept ofsin; 3) and The practice of AncestralWorship:,

Let Us Look Atr.l)The Concenr Of God In ATR:The understanding of God always needsserious refining; when one comes from ATRto be a Christian. The supreme being in ATRis seen at least by the Zulus as the creator ofhuman beings and all that is seen and unseen.Known as (uMvelikuqata); the one whoappeared first.

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He is very distant from humans because of-

some bad actions of humans.Apart from His act of creation there is no

knowledge of this supreme being;'His Attri-

butes;how to Appease Him;,and What

His plan of His creation is.

Therefore:

When the missionaries came they did not find

a people without a knowledge of a god. When

they preached of God the Zulus continued to

Jilittite of Him as uMvelinqangi. They just

added more information.

This Supreme being; called (uMvelinqangi);7.

can in no way be the God of the Bible; the

Father of our Lord Jesus christ" who reveals

Himself to His creation.

Unless this supreme being is dethroned,

people will always confuse him with the true

God. They will always be confused on how tc

relate to the true God in PraYer.

Now for someone with this understanding of

Godo to come to Christ and learn that God has

not been keeping His distance, but throughout

history and today, He reaches down in love to

draw people toward Himself; is mind blowing

This is a brief description of the concept oD

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God in ATR

Let us look at:z.

Sin in ATR is mostly concerned withtransgressions of morals or community nonns.

Sin has no etemal consequences, in a sensethat it can be made right here and now.

Living family members can atone for the deadhere and now.

That's why Roman catholic and Zionist are soattractive to the black Africans.

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This is a brief description of the concept ofsin in ATR.

Let us now look at:''3.The Practice Of Ancestral Worship:

Demographical changes are very evident inour cities and towns post 1994. And it is afact that although we live in the samecomplexes and neibourhoods, although weshare office space, we are much uninformedabout one another with regards to mindsetsworldviews.

We are often blinded by the outsideeppearance:*

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-We wear the same designer clothes.-We eat at the same restaurants.-We shop at the same malls.So close yet so far. You go in cities ortownships; you will find both black andwhite Africans; involved in Ancestral worshipin a more subtle and civilised manner; asoppose to the black rural African whom wemay view as more barbarici in a manner inwhich they handle animals in the ceremonialof Ancestral Worship.

For exampleP In the rural set up; if someonedies is buried; and after six months; there iscerernony;.which is called (ukumbuyisa); tobring his spirit home, to look after the family.

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That is doneiby* slaughtering a cow; and byan older male in the family going with agroup of people to the gravel and pullingthe brantch of a tree from the grave to thehome; and telling the spirit of the deceasedthat they are taking him home to join thespirits of the Ancestors.

>The more sophisticated urban andtownship black.&frieansa Does the samething in a more sutled way. They call'itr theunvailing of the tpmb-etonei where they gothrough the same procedure, with a clothe;asoppose to the brantch of a tree; and they say;they just making a party of rememberingthe dead person.

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Our sophisticated white Africanq, they preferto use flowersi in their rememberance of theirdeceased.

All of these three groups they've got one thingin eomm,ons A Quest To Be In Contact WithThe I)ead.

This is a brief human description ofAncestral Worship in ATR.

There is more that Can be said in this Point.

The second point I want us to look at'isr

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AL \ffORSHIP:

l.The Bible tells us that dead people doesNot have a part in anything that is done

under the sury.and that we cantt reach

them, and they cantt reach us.Listen to the word of God from:, (Eccl.9 z4-6>

"Anyone who is among the living has hope-even a live

dog is better olf than a dead lion!

For the living know thut they will die, hut the deud know

nothing; they have nofurther reward, and even the

memory of them is forgotten.Their love, their hate and their iealousy have long since

vanished; never again will they have a part in anlthing

that happens under lhe sun.')

And in the story of the Rich Man andLazarus; both of them died; and the Rich Man

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find himself in a place of torment; duringnegotiations with Abraham, after realizing thathe was not going to get helpne was nor gorng ro ger any nelp ror nlmsell;

he then asked for his living brothers. In (Lukefor himself:

16227-31) we read: ,'"He answered, 'Then I beg you,futher, send Lazurus to myfather's house; for I havefivebrothers. Let him warn them" so that they will not alsocome to this place of torment ' Abraham replied, 'Theyhuve Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them-'

uNo, father Abraham"'he said, 'but if someone from thedeod goes to themo they will repent.'

"He said to him, 'If they do not listen lo Moses and thePraphets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises

from the dead."

The rich man could not communicate with hisbrothers; though he was despread to do so.

So, they can't rich us; and we can't rich them.15.

Therefore, those who offer sacrifices orflowers to their ancestorr, or idols; they offerthose things to demons.

Listen to (Eccl. 9:6b> ((....Never again will theyhave a part in anything thnt happens under the sun.o

And in (lCor. L0 tl8-22) we read&,"Considerthe people of Israe& Do not those who eat the sacriticesparticipate in the altarT Do I mean then that a sacriticeolfered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?

No, but the sacriJices of pagans are otfered to demons,nol to God, and I do not want you to be participants withdemons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and thecup of demons too; you cunnot have a part in both theLord's table and the table of demons.

Are we trying to arouse the Lord's jealousy? Are westronger than He?

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Let me ask you a question. 'If you were toask these pagans in Corinth, if they wereworshiping demonq You think they wouldhave said yes? No wayl They would havesaid no! If you say to people who worshipancestorsl'you are worshiping d,emong'You think they will say yes ? No \May! Theywill say no, they not.But behind ancestral ond idol worship; thereare deceptive spirits called demons.

2.The Bible speaks of ancestral worship €rS &!,.

detestable practice along with other paganreligious practices in generall,.ip,3

(write these down; Dut.7:25-26; 12:31).

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The third point I'd like us to look at; is thati'

3.ANCESTRAL WORSHTP IS A PAGANRELIGION:

This is very important to me as a BlackAfrican; because ancestral worship has beenlabelled as "Black African Religion,'oHumanly speaking that may be true, becauseancestral worship is more practiced by BlackAfricans.But biblically speaking its not true; for onereason!> The Bible Suggest That Ancestral

Worship Is A Pagan Religion Of AIIEthnicity In (Deut. 18:9-12). We readt

"When you enter the land the LORD your God isgiving you; do not learn to imitate the detestable

ways of the nations there. Let no one be found amongyou who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire;

who practices divination or sorcery; interprets

omens;engages in witchcraft; or cast spells; or who is

a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.

Anyone who does these things is detestable to the

LOf,lfl....1tt

In this passage of scripture; the Israelites arefrom Egypt going to Canaan(the promiseland); God is warning them not to learnancestral worship.

Therefore, friends, ancestral worship is apagan religion of all races.The evidence of that in our context, is that we

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havet blacks; whites; indians; and coloureds

sangomasn, who practice ancestral worship

and witchcraft all over South Africa.

The fourth & final point that I'd like to make

is that: ,,

The Mathematics of Christianity is that:,owhen you add something to Christianityyou actually subtract something; and when

you subtract something from ChristianitY oyou remain with something else not

Christianity.'20.

Therefore, you can't and you should not addancestral worship or any pagan practices toChristianity.

Let me give you four reasons, why ancestralworship is not compatible with Christianitys

does these things is detestable to the LORD.....r'

people (Lev.19:31> "Do not turn to mediums orseek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. Iam the LORD your God."

(Lev. 2026> " I will turn my face against theperson who turns to mediums and spiritists toprostitute himself by following thern, and I will cut

him off from his people." AND

2t. 22.

(Lev. 20:27>..4 man or a woman who is amedium or spiritist among you must be put to death.You are to stone them; their blood will be on theirown heads,tt

> It Is A Senseless Practice That Is DoneBy Peopte Who Are Not In RelationshipWith God (1 Sam.28:3-8)

Listen to what (Isaiah 8:19-20) saysl ,.wh"nmen tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, whowhisper and mutter, should not a peopre enquire of theirGod? Why consult the dead on behalf of the liVing? Tothe law and to the testimony! If they do not speakaccording to this word, they have no light of dawn."

The fourth and final reason why ancestralworship is not compatible with christianitv isthat: ,,

It Challenges The Role Of Christ As TheMediator Between God And Men. In

(lTim. 2:5-6); we read* 56For there is one Godand one Mediator between God and men, the Man

Christ Jesusl,who gave Himself as a ransom for all

Men-the testimony given in its proper time."

Remernber that in the beginning I said; deadpeople become mediators between God and

men in ATR.Therefore, Christians does not and should notpractice ancestral worship; because it is an

abomination before God.

It is a stupit and senseless religion. And its nota Black African Religiory but apagafi rel'igion.

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Recentlyoon television we had a prograrnmecalled crossing overi helping people toconnect with dead people. Simply becausepeople of all Ethnici4v and cultures have adeep seated need to be in touch with thedead.

In our churches we may have fortune-*ellers;People who go to the grave and speak to thedead;, people who hangs the pictures oftheir ancestors on the walls of their homesand speak to thernl people who worshipancestors and go to mediums and spiritists.Behind this kind of practice and behaviour;are deceptive spirits, called demons.

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My friend; if you are involve in it: Repentand put your trust in Jesus alone.

I hope you are now convinced that ATR is across cultural and cross ethnicify Religion.

Time For Q&A.

N.

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