INTRODUCTION

One can say, without doubt, that the Igbo people are religiously blessed because the knowledge of

God is highly expressed and communicated in their culture. But the major problem among the

Igbo Christians, in the understanding of the person of Jesus Christ, is a result of the teachings of

the early missionaries who evangelized the Igbo land with their foreign beliefs and doctrines that

is new to the African world. These missionaries’ attitude and rejection of the African cultural

value and religion is truly against human conscience. Thus, the wrong conception of Amadioha

(the Igbo god) is an age-long comparative religious issue that is as old as religion itself. So, this

paper tends to a comparative analysis between Jesus (the Christian messiah), who known in the

Christian religion as the Son of God and the second person of the Most Holy Trinity, and

Amadioha, who is traditionally known in the Igbo traditional religion as the son of and servant of

Chineke (creator God). The early missionaries and some present day Christians see Amadioha and

the Igbo tradition as adulterous and pagan deity. However, scholars use a comparative method of

investigation to investigate the possible relationships that co-exist between Amadioha of the Igbo

traditional religion and Jesus Christ of Christian religion. While the researchers do not attempt to

equate Amadioha with Jesus Christ, they believe that there are certain similarities which exist

between the worship of Amadioha and that of Jesus Christ. Thus, if the early missionaries had

presented Amadioha (already known to the Igbos) as servant of God, rather than a pagan deity,

then the Igbos would have had a rapid and comprehensive grasp of Jesus Christ.

AFR ICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION BEFORE THE COMING OF THE

MISSIONARY
Religion in Igbo traditional society partakes fully of all the features of world traditional religion,

including its beliefs, sacred myths, oral qualities, strong appeal to the hearts of adherents, high

degree of ritualization, and possession of numerous participatory personages such as officiating

elders, kings, priests, and diviners. Everyone is in fact a religious carrier. The objects of Igbo

religion and worship in the strict sense are threefold: God, nonhuman spirits, and the ancestors.

The Igbo believe in the Supreme Being, who is the controller of the world and all that are in the

world. Their firm belief in the Supreme Being manifests in the names they give their children;

names like Chukwuemeka (God has done much), Chukwuka (God is greater), Chukwuma (God

knows), etc. It is worthy of note to observe that the Great God is not represented in any carved or

molded form. He does not have a shrine. He is said to have his abode above the sky. What the

African Traditional Religion is, and the need to study it is well illustrated in the words of Francis

Cardinal Arinze, in his address during the International interdisciplinary conference on the

“Interface of Igbo Theology and Christianity” held in owerri. The cardinal avowed that, “The

religious culture which held sway in Igboland before the arrival of the Christian missionaries

deserves close study and respect. Basic to this religion is a belief in one God who is Creator and

giver of life and who is generally believed to dwell in a rather transcendent distance from humans.

Very common is belief in spirits, both non-human spirits and human spirits who are the

ancestors…” (6th day of July 2012).

EFFECTS OF THE EARLY MISSIONARIES AND THE BELIEF IN AMADIOHA.

With the advent of Christianity in Igboland in 1857, the traditional religion had a serious rival. At

first, the problem which Christianity presented to the traditional religion was not regarded as a

serious matter by the people because conversion to Christianity at the initial stage was not an easy

task as Christianity was a new religion brought to the Igbo nation by the white missionaries. The

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Igbo people feared that if they become Christians, their gods would bring disaster to them.

Diviners and medicine men reported that the divinities were angry because of the new religion

and warned that nobody should join the missionaries. Others refused to embrace the new religion

because they thought that the missionaries wanted to destroy their culture. Despite these reasons

and threats, Christianity began to win converts in Igboland. They had village church-school

teachers called church agents. These agents were very active in molding the attitude of the

converts, especially the young, toward the traditional society. Most of them, half educated and in

many cases utterly misguided, contributed significantly to open disrespect for and disregard of the

society’s time-honored customs and religious practices.

Thus, the early missionaries came into Africa primarily to spread the religion and gospel they

came with, but they also brought with them a complete change of lifestyle. The ethnocentric

outlook of these missionaries prevented them completely from understanding the natives of

Africa and led to their influencing other areas of the African lives besides religion. Henceforth,

the effects of missionaries on Africa included a loss of cultural identity, a change in the unity of

Africa, and a spread of Christianity due to the training of black missionaries.

And so, Africa experienced a loss of cultural identity due to the westernization these missionaries

brought along with Christianity. The Africans who accepted Christianity were automatically

westernized while those who maintained the traditional beliefs avoided association with the white

man’s lifestyle. Moreso, Achebe opined that “westernization occurs when the Christian churches

accept the twins and outcasts of Umuofia, which completely goes against Umuofian tradition”

(1958:155). The African world also lost part of their cultural identity in the field of education,

since the traditional history and beliefs were no longer taught. The Christian education used the

Bible to teach reading and language skills together with western practices and beliefs. Churches

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and schools were built for the youths and children. These children were adolescents who later

became campaigners for converts.

JESUS CHRIST IN CHRISTIAN RELIGION

The Christians believe that Jesus Christ is both God and man. He is believed to be the Jewish

messiah whom the prophets foretold in the Old Testament. It is also believed that through his

crucifixion and succeeding resurrection, God gave salvation and eternal life to man through Jesus

who died and atone for the sins of the world. These teachings emphasize that Jesus is the Lamb of

God, hence he (Jesus) chose to suffer on the cross at Calvary as a sign of his obedience to the will

of God. Therefore, Jesus' choice positioned him as a man of obedience, in contrast to Adam's

disobedience. While there have been theological debates over the nature of Jesus, Trinitarian

Christians believe that Jesus is the Logos, God incarnate, God the Son, "true God and true man",

both fully divine and fully human. Jesus, having become fully human in all respects, suffered the

pains and temptations of a mortal man, yet he did not sin. And following biblical account, God

raised him from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sat at the right hand of God. This is what

the Christian faith teaches and professes about Jesus. He is a savior who came to redeem the

sinful man from pain and agony of death. Christians have faith in this Jesus that they will become

like him. Hence, Christ has become the hope for Christians; for he shall judge all men at the end

of time.

AMADIOHA IN THE AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION

In the African traditional religion, Amadioha is revered as the god of justice who speaks through

thunder and strikes with lightening. When there is a case of injustice in the community, it is taken

to the shrine of Amadioha, the god of vengeance. The African traditionalists do not believe that it

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is their duty to revenge, rather they leave vengeance for Amadioha. Again, in fighting for justice,

Amadioha visits the guilt with death, either through lightening (which leaves a black mark on the

forehead) or by sending swarm of bees to the person. As such, the dead person’s property is then

taken by the priest of Amadioha and the body left unburied. The victim will also not be mourned

as the punishment is considered to be a righteous one.

Following Kanu’s line of thought, Amadioha is considered the Owner of the Sky. Whenever

lightning kills a person or strikes an object, the event is often considered a sign or message from

Amadioha. Lightening was believed to have its track and so the Igbo would always avoid those

tracks. It is also referred to as the husband of Ala. Just as a husband fertilizes his wife so does

Amadioha fertilize his wife Ala through rainfall. Dibia, or priests, are therefore asked to

determine what wrong has been committed by the victim or the owner of the object. Not minding

the violent image that thunder and lightning carry, Amadioha is presumed to be a gentle deity who

gets violent only when provoked (2018:118-146).

Apart from god of justice and vengeance, Amadioha is also a god of love, peace and unity. People

come to him for increase of crops, children and for benevolence. Amadioha is also revered as a

personal spirit that brings wealth as well as agent of Chukwu who brings divine blessings to

people. Through his intercession, Chukwu nourishes the green vegetation of the earth and sees to

the good health of the people. Moreso, Amadioha can pull down trees that have evil hidden in

them, and such events is usually understood as an exposure by Amadioha. It can also destroy

farmlands where people have buried charms to harm their enemies or kill their opponents. It

ensures that the natural order, controlled by Chukwu, is not upset. Its principle is simple; every

man receives his wages. Hence, Kanu averred that “Amadioha is, therefore, referred to as the

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deity that manifests the wrath of Chukwu” (2013: 533). Therefore, Amadioha represents a

messianic hope for those in critical situations without help.

MISTAKES OF THE EARLY MISSIONARIES AND THE IGBO RELIGIOUS BELIEF

Admittedly, the early missionaries, in trying to portray Africans as inferior, hurriedly forgot that

their arrival in Igboland was not the beginning of religious belief and practice in Africa. Before

the arrival of these missionaries, the Africans believed that life, death, prosperities, sickness etc.

are the handiwork of a spiritual beings. From the beginning, the Igbo people have believed in the

existence of a supreme being who they refer to as “Chukwu (Chi-Ukwu, biggest God), the creator

of everything (Chineke- God that creates). When the missionaries arrived Nigeria, they ignored all

these practices of the Igbo people, condemned them and called them pagan and dark practices.

They hurriedly did this out of pride, ignorance, arrogance and bias. They failed to recognize

anything good in African religion and immediately started influencing both the cultural and

religious practices of the people they know nothing about. At different times and places, there

were face-to-face encounters with Christians and traditionalists, because the early Christian

missionaries behaved like social revolutionaries. They plunged into the condemnation and

eradication of traditional religion. Traditional music and songs, drama, and dance were totally

denounced as bad and immoral. Statues, images, and emblems of remarkable artistic work and

aesthetic merit were wantonly destroyed by some of the overzealous converts as idols and works

of the devil. The missionaries were not prepared to face traditional religion.

Nevertheless, the church is becoming to understand the rich culture and religion of the African

world, even though the deed has been done. Thus, Pope Pius XII in his Missionary Encyclical

“Evangelii Praecones” (Missionary Encyclical) advised missionaries thus:

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 The Church from the beginning down to our time has always followed

this wise practice: Let not the Gospel on being introduced into any

new land, destroy or extinguish whatever its people possess that is

naturally good, just or beautiful. For the Church, when she calls people

to higher culture and a better way of life under the inspiration of the

Christian religion, does not act like one who recklessly cuts down and

uproots a thriving forest. No, she grafts a good scion upon the wild

stock that it may bear a crop of more delicious fruit (1951: 66-67).

It is obvious that this instruction was not followed by the early missionaries. This reason will also

attest why most Igbo Christians today are still heavily influenced by elements of Igbo traditional

religion because this tradition is in our blood whether we deny it or not. Africans are naturally

religious beings. Accordingly, in understanding the importance of Amadioha as a divine

messenger of Chukwu in the Igbo Traditional Religion, Prof. KANU made a comparative analysis

between Amadioha and Jesus. His intention was not to equate Amadioa with Jesus, but to show

some similar unique characteristic features found in them. His plan is to establish that the God

preached and worshipped in the Igbo Traditional Religion is not weak, wicked or a pagan god as

proclaimed by the early missionaries. Thus, the analysis is presented in a tabular form for our

better comprehension.

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN AMADIOHA AND CHRIST

1. Jesus was fully part of the creation of Amadioha is also considered to be a creator

the world: God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the

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Word was with God, and the Word was

God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made; without

him nothing was made that has been made.

In him was life, and that life was the light of

all mankind.”(Jn 1:1-4)

2. Jesus is symbolized in the Lamb. Amadioha is symbolized in the Ram.

“The next day he saw Jesus coming to him Wherever a shrine is dedicated to Amadioha,

and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who the symbol of the ram is always present.

takes away the sin of the world!” (John Moreso, those who bring sacrifices to be

1:29) offered to Amadioha always bring Ram as the

"And they overcame him because of the choice sacrifice for Amadioha

blood of the Lamb and because of the word

of their testimony, and they did not love

their life even when faced with death.”

(Rev. 12:11)

“"These will wage war against the Lamb,

and the Lamb will overcome them, because

He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and

those who are with Him are the called and

chosen and faithful." (Rev. 17:14)

3. Jesus was not created by the Father, Amadioha was not created by Chukwu. It

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 but proceeds from the Father. emanated from Chukwu.

The Nicene Creed reads:

“We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the

only Son of God, eternally begotten of the

Father; God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God; begotten not

made, one in being with the Father”.

4. Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father. Amadioha, also known as Igwe, is the son of

The Nicene Creed reads: Chineke.

“We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the

only Son of God, eternally begotten of the

Father; God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God; begotten not

made, one in being with the Father”.

In the Apostles’ Creed it reads:

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty,

Creator of heaven and earth; and in Jesus

Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was

conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of

theVirgin Mary, suffered under Pontius

Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.”

5. Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. Amadioha is symbolized with Lightening.

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 The Nicene Creed refers to Jesus as: Whenever lightning kills a person or strikes an

“Light from Light, true God from true object, the event is often considered a sign or

God” message from Amadioha.

In the Gospel of John Jesus says:

“I am the light of the world. Whoever

follows me will never walk in darkness, but

will have the light of life.” (8:12)

“When I am in the world, I am the Light of

the World.” (9:5)

6. Jesus is an intermediary between God Amadioha is an intermediary between

and His children on earth. traditional Igbo society and Chukwu.

“For there is one God and one mediator Amadioha is a functionary in the theocratic

between God and men, the man Christ governance of God. He can as well be referred

Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, to as a dean of God’s creation.

the testimony that was given at just the

right time. For this reason, I was appointed

as a herald, an apostle, and a faithful and

true teacher of the Gentiles”. (1 Tim 2:5-6)

7. Jesus was sent by the Father, and so He Amadioha does nothing of its will. It is not an

did only what the Father wanted of end in itself but a means to an end, and

Him. everything it does is dependent upon

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 “When you have lifted up the Son of man, Chukwu’s approval; this does not in any way

then you will know that I am he and that I change the fact that Amadioha is a powerful

do nothing on my own but speak just what spiritual being.

the Father has taught me” (John 8:28)

From the above analysis, one can assume or conclude that the God of the Igbo traditional religion

and the God of the Christian religion are the same. Therefore, we can say that these religions

worship the same God, though have different experiences of God. God understands the human

culture/religion more than man because he designed it and allows it to grow in them for a

purpose. Thus, He designed those cultures so that man can see and communicate with him in

them. So, self-realization means that man has become aware of himself and aware of his God.

Hence, the limitations of understanding other cultures/religions does not mean yours is better, it

shows the uniqueness and presence of God in every culture/religion. Again, our analysis below

continues to show some similarities between Jesus and Amadioha of the Igbo traditional religion.

This again is influenced by Prof. Kanu’s teaching, which exposes that the differences between

Igbo religious beliefs in Amadioha and the beliefs of the early missionaries or Christian belief in

Jesus are just nomenclature.

1. Jesus Christ is synonymous with the Amadioha is a god of Justice, love, peace and

idea of Justice, Love, Peace and Unity. unity. He punishes offenders of the law,

One of Jesus’ most popular quote is dishes out justice for those seeking vengeance

found in Mark 12:31: “Love your and also he is the source of peace and

neighbor as yourself.’ There is no harmony in the society. People come to

commandment greater than these”. The Amadioha with the hope of getting justice.

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 entire teachings of Jesus Christ are And when there is trouble, the community

based on the idea of Justice, Peace, pleads to Amadioha to return peace to their

love and Unity of Christians. He went land. Amadioha also represents a messianic

around healing people, creating that hope for those in critical situations.

idea of the “messianic hope” for those

in critical situations.

2. JESUS love for man is real. He had the Literally, Amadioha means man of the people.

interest of the people at heart and that He has the interest of the people at heart. He

is why He came to the world to rescue stands with the helpless and do not support

man from pain by dying on the cross. evil people. Amadioha listens to the cries,

His love made him suffer so much pain sufferings and supplications of his subjects.

on the cross for the freedom of man.

3. Jesus Christ in his life was a carpenter Amadioha is often referred to as “the god of

as stated in Mark 6:3: Is not this the carvers”. The carving craft is a form of

carpenter, the son of Mary and brother carpentry in the sense that they are working

of James and John and Judas and wood into furniture and other objects.

Simon? And are not his sisters here Amadioha was also a wood worker (carver).

with us?” And they took offense at

him.

4. Jesus Christ is always presented in red, Amadioha is always presented with red

either wearing a red scarf, red coat or colour, this means that red is the colour of

so, this means that the colour red is Amadioha.

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 symbolism to the life of Christ.

EVALUATION

The grave sin for which we the Igbo people will continue to accuse the white missionaries of

committing is, the sin of devaluing the Igbo culture and African Traditional Religion in general.

Thus, the inability of these early missionaries to study the Igbo cultural practices and even learn

our language in order to understand the underpinnings; our cultural heritage; its historical

implications and application is a huge lack on their part. Their hasty conclusions on the nature of

our Igbo culture has brought forth fruits of reproaches, sacrilegious acts, low sense of the sacred

and a downgrade of our moral decadence and awareness. These they achieved by the imposition

of their cultural practices and values on us. They, instead of seeing the semblances and

interrelatedness that exist between the both religions, condemned ATR by categorizing it as

paganism and idolatrous.

What we have learnt from the missionaries that evangelized other nations like China, Asia, India,

etc., is that they learnt and practiced the cultural practices of these places, lived among them,

learnt their language, and practiced their culture, and as such were able to enculturate the better

aspects of these cultures into Christianity; for example, St. Francis Xavier, Robert de Nobili, to

mention but a few, who evangelized India.

Conversely, what do we experience in our land? A high rate of colonialism coated under the

deceptive shell of Christianity. The missionaries who introduced Christianity to this part of the

world were majorly concerned with colonialism rather that evangelism. By painting an imagery of

our people in misery and underdeveloped presented a picture of our people as those without

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culture and philosophy of life. Idolaters, pagans and people without belief in Jesus the messiah of

the Jews, in particular, and the world with lesser or no knowledge of our Amadioha who bears and

performs, in certain ways, similar functions to the Igbo people as Jesus of the Jews does.

Observably, this is the main reason why Christianity has not taken strong root in the lives of our

people. Simply put, because of this religious imposition, our people have failed to really

understand what Christianity is all about; because many see it as a civil obligation.

This research work however has, to a great extent, established the close similarities that exist

between the two concepts of Jesus (a Jewish religious leader considered to be the son of God) and

our Amadioha (a messiah and god of the Igboland, known for fighting the course of justice and

peace, and equally considered as the son of Chukwu Okike), by presenting convincing and lucid

comparisons that reveal what I term the “Ultimate Truth.” Ultimate in the sense that it is eternal,

lucid and encompassing; and truth because having passed through various critical scrutiny has

remained authentic and true. This truth is simply that the God of the Igbo Traditional Religion and

the God of the Christian Religion are the same. The two religions worship the same God, through

different approaches which are chiefly rested on the different cultural experiences of the people

about the same God.

And so, culture, appropriately defines the way of life of a people and is equally an evidence of the

unique nature of God. This implies that approaches and understandings are culturally based and as

such cannot be the same with the different cultures that exist in the world. Thus, the prima aporia

(the point) here is simply a problem of nomenclature, definition and language.

CONCLUSION

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From the foregoing, we have been able to examine and see some similarities between Amadioha,

the god of the Igbo Traditional Religion and Jesus Christ of the Christian Religion. We can boldly

say that the God of the Christian religion and that of the Igbo traditional religion are the same,

even though the religions have different approaches. Nevertheless, Amadioha of the Igbo

traditional religion and Jesus Christ of the Christian religion have common characteristics which

we have seen above. Both are considered savior, from the religions perspective. Hence, the

condemnation of Amadioha and the Igbo traditional religion as pagan worship is as a result of

bias and lack of knowledge of the Igbo traditional religion and Amadioha. Had the missionaries

been patient enough to study and know the Igbo traditional religion, perhaps, things would have

been much different. As such, Amadioha would have gained a repute not just among the adherents

of the religion, but also among the Christians in and outside the Igbo domain. Therefore, the title

Amadioha would also have helped the Christian world, especially Christians in Igboland, to

understand and assimilate the person of Jesus in the Igbo religion.

References

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Anthony Kanu (2018). Igbo-African Gods and Goddesses. Nnadiebube Journal of Philosophy.

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Anthony Kanu (2013). The Dimensions of African Cosmology. Filosofia Theoretica: Journal of

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Achebe C. (1958). Things fall apart. Britain: Heinemann

George W. Reid (1960). Missionaries and West African Nationalism. Phylon publishers.

Jordan P. (1949). Bishop Shanahan of Southern Nigerian. Dublin publicantions.

Okonkwo J. (2002). Onugaotu Ahiajoku Lecture Colloquium. Assumpta press, Owerri.

Pope Pius XII (1951). Evangelii Praecones: Missionary Encyclical.

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