Communio viatorum is a theological journal from Central European perspectives founded in 1958 by J. L. Hromádka and J. B. Souček, published by the Protestant Theological Faculty of Charles University in Prague three times a year.
Communio Viatorum seeks to promote research and scholarly debate in all theological disciplines. Since its foundation special attention has been paid to both biblical studies and Czech Protestant history. The journal is also interested in articles that reflect new accents within the field of theology as well as relevant challenges from neighbouring disciplines, developments in the Church worldwide as well as new moves within society. It seeks to promote an ongoing process of theological debate from a specific Central European Protestant background, but open to authors from all around the world and all denominations who wish to engage in such a conversation.
Articles published here are indexed in the ATLA Religion Database® and are included in the full-text ATLASerials® (ATLAS®) collection. They are also indexed and abstracted in the Web of Science – Arts and Humanities Citation Index® of Clarivate Analytics, in Scopus, in CEEOL, and in ERIH PLUS.
The previous journal homapage with an archive of published issues
COMMUNIO VIATORUM, Vol 66 No 2 (2024), 139–153
Odinala Traditional Religion as Part of Igbo Catholic Christian Identity
Ondřej Havelka
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14712/30296374.2024.12
published online: 12. 11. 2024
abstract
Although recent statistics indicate that the majority of the Igbo – an ethnic group living mainly in West African Nigeria – claim to be Christian (of various denominations), their religious identity is in fact more complex: the Igbo do not forget their traditional Odinala religion and practice it together with Christianity without intermingling (multiple religious identity) or in syncretism with Christianity. Odinala is, in short, a polytheistic religious system where the highest reverence belongs to the god Chukwu. The aim of this article is firstly to give an introduction to the traditional Igbo religion of Odinala and secondly its influence on the co-formation of the identity of the Igbo – we choose for the purpose of this article – Catholic Christian. Through the ontological categories of Odinala religion, the paper examines how Odinala shapes the Igbo worldview, how it co-constitutes Igbo identity and helps to establish the ontological category of the human person. The topic is developed through a field research method, reinforced by a comparison of relevant literature.
keywords: Odinala; Igbo; Christianity; Nigeria; human person; identity
Odinala Traditional Religion as Part of Igbo Catholic Christian Identity is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
