INTRODUCTION

There are so many ways in which people expressed and express their beliefs and understanding

of God. However, the people of the Old Testament also expressed their understanding and views

about their God. The children of Israel nevertheless called their God as YHWH this implies that

the name God never appeared in the Old Testament; He led them in so many ways hence he was

involved in the activities of the Israelites and they worshiped and understood him according to

what he did. On the other hand, the African perspective has a similar understanding about God

hence their concept about their God depended and depends most on the attributes of God. With

Africans, the perception of God is in such way that they name him according to the visible

creativity of God which has amazed and surprised them just like what we see in the Old

Testament. The works and happenings of God have given a concept of God to both the Old

Testament and to Africans. Therefore, in this paper I shall talk about the differences and

similarities in the way God is perceived in the Old Testament and African Tradition perception

of God.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN OLD TESTAMENT

CONCEPT OF GOD AND AFRICAN TRADITION CONCEPT OF GOD

it is very difficult to distinguish the concept of God between the Old Testament and African

Tradition religion. This could because both in the Old Testament and in Africa God is perceived

according to his self revelation in his acts. Since God is believed to be the same, yesterday, today

and forever, it is possible that what he did in the time of the old Testament is what he probably

did or does in Africa, and not the way it was portrayed by most European missionaries as they

were coming to Africa. According to Parrinder (1969, p, 39) “From the earlier view that African

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religion was crudely fetishistic, informed opinion has now swung round to the conviction that

most, if not all, African peoples have had a belief in a supreme Being as an integral part of their

world view and practiced religion.” This could mean that even if there could be beliefs in other

small gods, African still believe in the supreme God just like in the OT. Parrinder further argues

that what Africans believe about God correspond with many other divine attributes to God in

other religion. These I suppose include even the religion in the OT. To affirm this, Dr Cooper

(2015) state that, “Many Africans as well as European theologians defend the view point that Old

Testament does not really have anything to teach the people of Africa which they do not already

know from their own knowledge of and beliefs in God (Inkatha: 40, 69) or even by implication:

that Christians have a distorted view of God and they can learn from traditional African religion

what God really is (Setiloane, 1986: 23).

OLD TESTAMENT CONCEPT OF GOD

According to Brueggemann, (2008, p, 75) “YHWH according to the testimony of the Old

Testament, is sovereign who presides in power and authority over heaven and earth, over all

creation and over the historical process of human affairs.” This means that there is no one on

earth and in heaven who is above God. He is the final authority over all creation including

human beings. This could mean that even other gods that the people who surrounded the

Israelites in Ancient Near East worshiped were made from what God had already created and has

the power to destroy them. Dyrness, (1979, p, 50) states that “all the works of God displays his

power, but it never a naked or arbitrary power.” He further states that associated with his power

is the idea of God as terrible, the power of God is experienced in blessings and judgment.

Brueggemann further states that the theology of the OT shows that God did not only create the

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world, but he also maintains it and ensures that there is order. This he does by edits that enact

sanctions of rewards and punishment. Though he did not explain how he does this, but going by

what we read in Deuteronomy chapter 28, the scripture talks about the blessing that follow when

you obey the commandments of God and the curses that follow when you disobey. Schofied,

(1964, p, 31) states that “Amos (4.6ff.) taught that famine and drought, blight and mildew,

pestilence and earthquake were sent by God to win his people back….”this entails that God did

not just call the world to order by punishment but that he also win their souls and his authority

was established.

Israel`s belief was that it was dangerous to approach Yahweh, one needed to be careful and this

maybe because of his sovereignty, we see God appearing in the flame of fire in exodus. God was

not seen with the physical eyes and acted freely without obligation simply because he had the

authority I suppose. Since God could not be seen, it was also difficult to describe him and

hazardous and also to make an image of him was impossible. As a result, the speeches, song,

oracles and narratives that we hear in the Israelites as they worship Yahweh, is imaginative and

metaphoric. This is because they do not have an exact picture of how God looks like but uses a

metaphor to talk about him. In the book of exodus, God is described as a warrior participating in

the war with a combat to fight the armies of pharaoh in order to set the Israelites free and to get

the glory that he deserves. (Brueggemann, p, 89).

Even if in the OT concept of God reveals that God was not seen, it also state that God appeared

to his people and at the same time, he was transcendent, having his person above the limits of the

world. He had a special of appearing to his people and for this reason the Hebrew thought is that

he was at home in heaven and on earth. He made things that are seen the means of his presence.

Some of these are; the angel of the lord, for example in genesis the three angels appeared to

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Abraham who spoke about the birth of the promised son; another object is the face of God, when

Moses requested that he wanted to see God, only his face appeared. Another object that represent

the presence of God is the Anthropomorphisms, for example in Isaiah 59:1-2 “ the hand of God

is not too short to serve no his ears to deaf to hear…” God will sometimes appear direct to his

people though the sin of man makes it impossible for God to appear, this is because God is holy

and because man is unrighteous, and he cannot see the face of God and still live. Sometimes God

also reveals himself through his works, for example in exodus 19:3 and 20:1-2, God said to

Moses, ‘you have seen what I did’ it is not just mere work but it is something beyond human

comprehension just like the pilling up of the water on the red sea that the Israelites crossed on

dry ground, the one referred to in the scripture mentioned above. God is also understood as the

covenant keeping God , thus the name Yahweh which means covenanting God, and he remains

faithful to his covenant and sustains his relationship with his people, (Dyrness, 1979, pp, 30- 41).

It is in this very covenant that stated that the people of Israel should worship only one God who

also promised to be with them forever, going before and after them wherever they went. The

Israelites regarded God as their king not until they requested for a human king.

According to Schofied, (1964, p, 26) “Israel shared with other religions the thought of God as

living and active, real and present in all human life. He was known by what he did.” This entails

that God has been active and ever working since creation, and he has been involved in all human

endeavors. He is the origin of activity in others, and even though the creation story ended on the

Sabbath day, it does not mean that God has stopped working and that is how he sustained the

world though he works through his creation as the originator of activities in others. He is a spirit

or breath or a powerful wind and invisible but his presence is clearly felt, known and recognized

by the effects on things that are seen. Schofied further describe the Hebrew God as being

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constant and not changing. There are divine patterns that are seen in the past, running through the

present to the future.

According to Dyrness, (1979, p, 51) “The concept of God’s jealous is another closely allied idea

(Exodus 20:5 and 34:14) where his name is jealous or zealous.” this is because God is sovereign

and holy and does not want to share his glory with any man/woman or idles. This is why

Yahweh was the only God the Israelites were supposed to worship and besides him there is no

any other God. Dyrness further states that in OT there is no theoretical atheism (the actual denial

of God’s existence), that it is only a fool who says there is no God (PS 14:1) and denies his

relevance in his or her life. God is revered and his existence is not questioned.

Another concept of God in the OT is that God could speak direct to his people through the

prophets. According to Schofied (1964, p, 55) “a prophet was always conscious of being used by

God to proclaim a given message, sometimes about the future, more often about the past and

present.” It is through the prophets that God warned the people for their evil and pronounced

punishment a feature which is not found in ATR, but they also acknowledge the fact that God

punishes wrong doing.

THE AFRICAN TRADITION CONCEPT OF GOD

Just as they are many cultures and according to scholars many theologies in Africa, also the

concept of God in Africa differs in one way or the other according to tribes. Africans regards

God as omniscience. According to Mbiti (1970, p, 3) “By attributing omniscience to God,

African people are placing him in a highest possible position.” This means that God is revered

and considered as the wisest. In Africa, wisdom commands the greatest respect simply because

such a person is in a special class of his own. Mbiti further state that in Africa, God is wise that

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is why that’s why different tribes in Africa describe God differently. For example, the Akan refer

to God as ‘he who knows and sees all things’ while the Zulu’s simply calls him ‘the wise one’.

Even when they face sorrows, uncertainty and ambiguity, they still see the wisdom of God, the

Banyarwanda mentions God in such circumstances by his name which means ‘God only knows

all things.’ Mbiti further states that another aspect of omnipresence of God is that, God is all

seeing and all hearing. He keeps his perpetual watch everywhere and all times. For the Bamuti

pygmies who live in the dense Congo forest, they believe that God sees in the darkest area of the

forests by day and night. In short in Africa it is only to God whom completes wisdom,

knowledge and understanding belongs. To the Yomba, God is known as he who sees both the

inside and outside of man, the discerner of hearts, because of this they handover all the offenders

to him, saying God has seen him or her. On the aspect of hearing, the karama believe that the

departed constitute, as it were the ear of God so that through them God can hear and see what the

living are doing. This however can be different from OT, for God taught the Israelites not to

consult the spirit of the dead because he hated such.(Leviticus 19:31, Deuteronomy 18:11) but

rather spoke through the prophets.

Another concept of God in Africa is that, he is omnipresent. Mbiti (1970, p, 5) states that

“Among the Karanga, God is spoken of as the great pool, contemporary of everything, the

presence of God is like water which is found everywhere.” This is because they refer to the

Zambezi and other rivers surrounding as the flood and flow perpetually, suggest an ending

presence of God stretching from one generation to another. He further states that life itself is

indication of God’s omnipresence. This is because he brings forth the shoots or supply rain to

mankind. A number of people regard certain objects and phenomena as particularly being

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associated with God, even though is presence is assumed throughout space and time. Thus the

Gikuyu as sacred mountain they believe is God’s resting place when he comes to visit on earth.

Africans also attributes the aspect of omnipotence to God, meaning that God is powerful.

According to Mbiti, (1970, p, 8) “When a missionary asked Africans in Zanzibar to tell him

something about their God, they simply said ‘God thunders’.” This is because to them the

tropical thunder is the most powerful thing that they know. Thunder is not just natural

phenomena but the power and voice of God whom no one can silence. Adowu (1973, p, 141)

affirms that “more often however, God is the great unknown power which cannot be

comprehended by man.” This is why anything that is extra ordinary to African may be given the

name of God.

Another concept of God in Africa is that of transcendence, which is complemented by

immanence. God is far and man cannot reach him (transcendent) and at the same time God is

immanent, meaning he comes close to man. At the same time, Africans place great emphasis on

the past and present and not the future, to these people, the transcendence of God clearly

indicates that there is no time when God was not there, since the ancient time man can think of,

but they do not look beyond the future. This can also be a difference for in the OT, God is also

thought of even in the future, for example, I will bless you and your descendants to the third and

fourth generations. To some people the transcendence of God is considered in terms of worship

and exaltation that God has done innumerable things that no man can thank him enough, while to

others it is in terms of limitlessness, meaning one who fills all space and the surpassing great

Spirit, and beyond him there is nothing. The Ila holds that God cannot be charged with an

offence, cannot be accused or be questioned. The Lugbora think of God’s transcendence (Adora)

as active and creative, while the immanence (Adro) is considered as bad and dangerous, they

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believe that he comes into direct contact with them and lives in rivers, mountains and big trees.

(Mbiti, 1970, p, 12-14)

According to Mbiti (1970, p, 29) “every African people recognizes only one God, according to

the cosmology of some, there are besides him other divinities and spiritual beings, some of

whom are closely associated with him.” He further states that some Africans like the Bakongo

describes the self existence of God and say, he is made by no one and beyond him there is none.

CONCLUSION

There are similarities and differences in the OT and ATR, however it is difficult to highlight

them and this is because amongst the Africans themselves, they have a different concept about

God depending on their experiences; because of this, you discover that much of what is in the

OT perspective is found in some parts of Africa. The people of the Old Testament also perceived

God according to their experiences which make the concept of God in both the OT and ATR

similar. What makes the concept of God in the two to differ is again the fact that African has so

many concepts of God and some of them are not found in the OT.

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BIBILIOGRAPH

Brueggemann Walter, 2008, Theology Of The Old Testament: An Introduction, Nashville:

Abingdon

Cooper, S (2015). Old Testament Theologies, lecture notes to Bth 2.

Dyrness William, 1979 Themes In Old Testament Theology, Downers Grove: Intervarsity

Idowu, E.B, 1993, African Tradition Religion, SCM Press, Britain

Mbiti, J.S, 1975, The Concept Of God In Africa, SPCK, London

Parrinder, G. 1969, Africa’s Three Religion, Sheldon Press, London

Schofied, J.N, 1964, Introducing Old Testament Theology, SCM Press, Britain