THE MYSTERY OF AFRICAN RELIGION AND THE ADVENT OF CHRISTIANITY

OGUN: The name Ogun originated from one ethnic tribe in West Africa. Ogun is the god of iron and also one of the deities that people worshipped. However, they acknowledge the existence of the Almighty GOD, but they believed that the easiest way to reach GOD is through the lesser deities like Ogun, which act as an intermediary between man and GOD. Priest: The Priest of Ogun is also known as native doctor. He is the intermediary between individual and the gods. The Priest has a shrine where he consult the gods for himself, the people that come to him for one form of spiritual problem and the society in general. He can invoke the wrath of ogun spirit on any offender brought before him. Shrine: Ogun shrine is easy to set up. The material is usually made up of pieces of iron/s collected either from the trash or mechanic workshop. And in most cases an iron bronze designed in human being form is also used to erect the altar. The Priest is the only sole authority who has the power to erect an alter for Ogun which is usually accompanied by some rituals. The iron has no power of its own, but the spirit behind those irons is the real Ogun. However, to invoke the spirit of Ogun, the Priest has to perform some sacrifice by slaughtering some animals like: goats, dogs or chickens. While the blood of these animals is poured on the shrine and other libations are also done after which the Priest will consult the oracle to find out if the sacrifice has been accepted. Libation: This is the process where the living honor ancestors by pouring libation - paying homage- on the ground before the living consume it. Libation is performed with alcohol. At times, the Priest needs to offer libation first to both the ancestors and the spirit of Ogun before consulting the oracle. Divination: This is the consultation of the oracular deity, or divination. It is an attempt to obtain or ascertain information by interpretation of omens. Divination is carried out by the oracle Priest with the aid of cowries, colanuts, white powder or other devices acceptable to the Priest. For example, if two people have a quarrel in the community, say they are quarrelling over some missing money. They can consult an oracle through the Priest to help them find out who stole or how the money got missing. However, both of them need to swear before the shrine that they are not responsible for the missing money. They might both eat a colanut before the shrine. Then anyone of them who took the oath falsely might die through accident cause by the deity- Ogun. Christianity: This is the most popular and dominant religion. About eighty percent of idols worshippers have given their lives to Christ. These people have tasted both powers and discovered that there is no other power other than the power of Almighty GOD through his only son Jesus Christ. All the deities bowed to the power and name of our Lord Jesus Christ anytime Jesus name is mention. It is a well known fact that the idols/ deities Priests cannot stand the power or the name of Jesus. Whenever the Christians are praising or worshipping GOD in the same community where these shrines are, the power in the Blood of Jesus Christ always rendered the power of the idol priests powerless to the extend that some of these deities Priests experience spiritual burning on their bodies. Many of them have also giving their lives to Jesus after seeing that their deities bowed to even a little boy-Christian- who believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. About the author: Clement Idahosa is a writer: http://religionstar.blogspot.com The Normal Christian Life The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life (Abridged Christian Classics) The Doctrine of the Christian Life (A Theology of Lordship) The Christian Life: A Doctrinal Introduction