The Continuity of Traditional Values in the African Society
The Continuity of Traditional Values in the African Society

Author: Pauline E. Aligwekwe

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2008-06-05

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 1450081398

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In this stimulating book, an experienced professor of Social and Cultural Anthropology of Africa and a missionary discovers in the Igb of Nigeria some very positive pre-colonial African philosophy of life and system of thought which blended so well with Christianity that it helped the ancestors survive some of the unwanted colonial upheaval of their days, and are still relevant to our day. The Continuity of Traditional Values in the African Society is a comprehensive work that digs deep and guides us to the essential factors that could help a human group to sustain and preserve its values in the midst of various upheavals through the centuries. In this typical example used, the book penetrates into the fabric of the culture of the ancestors of the Igb people, their cultural ethos and ideologies and how they fought to defend their culture and traditions in the midst of aggressive and sustained colonial invasion. It gives an overview of the family, lineage and demographic structures, socialization patterns and traits, the socio-economic institution and industry, and the famous direct democracy political setup that would have earned them a particular recognition in the present modern world avid hunger for democracy. The book points dwells also on the religious beliefs, language, concepts and philosophy of life, which were behind their openness to Western possibilities while at the same time they preserved their essential values.

Modernisation of Chinese Culture
Modernisation of Chinese Culture

Author: Jana S. Rošker

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2014-09-26

Total Pages: 420

ISBN-13: 1443867721

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The editors are grateful to the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for its generous support of their research work which enabled them to publish the present book. The present book carefully maps the Chinese modernisation discourse, highlighting its relationship to other, similar discourses, and situating it within historical and theoretical contexts. In contrast to the majority of recent discussions of a “Chinese development model” that tend to focus more on institutional then cultural factors, and are more narrowly concerned with economic matters than overall social development, the book offers several important focal points for many presently overlooked issues and dilemmas. The multifaceted perspectives contained in this anthology are not limited to economic, social, and ecological issues, but also include political and social functions of ideologies and cultural conditioned values, representing the axial epistemological grounds of modern Chinese society. 2011 was the 100th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution. The centennial is relevant not only in terms of state ideology, but also plays a significant role within academic research into Chinese society and culture. This historic turning point likewise represents the symbolic and concrete linkages and tensions between tradition and modernity, progress and conservatism, traditional values and the demands for adjustment to contemporary societies. The book shows that Chinese transition from tradition to modernity cannot be understood in a framework of a unified general model of society, but rather through a more complex insight into the interrelations among elements of physical environment, social structure, philosophy, history, and culture.

Afro-Igbo Mmad? and Thomas Aquinas’S Imago Dei
Afro-Igbo Mmad? and Thomas Aquinas’S Imago Dei

Author: Venatius Chukwudum Oforka

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2016-06-25

Total Pages: 473

ISBN-13: 1524500488

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In our modern and globalised world, the concept of human dignity has gained a haloed status and plays a decisive role in assessing the moral integrity of every human being. It provides a necessary foundation for the on-going human rights struggles. For the idea of human dignity ensures that our ever-growing complicated world wears a human face and that human beings are respected as absolute values in themselves. Afro-Igbo Mmad? and Thomas Aquinas' Imago Dei: An Inter-cultural Dialogue on Human Dignity attempts to expand the discourse on the concept of human dignity, which appears to have been parochially founded on the principles of Western cultures and ideologies. To deparochialise this discourse, it proposes an inter-cultural dialogue towards establishing common principles that define the foundation of human dignity, even when the approaches of diverse cultures to this foundation differ. The Afro-Igbo Mmadu and Thomas Aquinas' Imago Dei is, therefore, a model of such inter-cultural dialogue. It hosts a profound dialogue between the concept of Mmad? among the Igbo people of eastern Nigeria (Africa) and the concept of Imago Dei according to Thomas Aquinas of western European culture. The study discusses the rich values in these cultural concepts and acknowledges them as veritable tools for establishing human dignity as a universal and inalienable character of human beings. It, nonetheless, highlights the low points in these cultures that are discordant with this universal and inalienable character. The dialogue establishes that these two cultures could complementarily enrich one another and in this way mutually augment their shortcomings towards a more globalised and reinforced foundation of human dignity and the defence of the dignity of every individual human being.

Introduction to African Religion
Introduction to African Religion

Author: John S. Mbiti

Publisher: Waveland Press

Published: 2015-01-14

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 1478628928

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In his widely acclaimed survey, John Mbiti sheds light on the survival and prosperity of African Religion in different historical, geographical, sociological, cultural, and physical environments. He presents a constellation of African worldviews, beliefs in God, use of symbols, valued traditions, and practices that have taken root with African peoples throughout the vast continent. Mbiti’s accessible writing style sympathetically portrays how African Religion manifests itself in ritual, festival, healing, the human life cycle, and interplay with the mystical and invisible world. The account embraces foundational traditions, while touching on elements that spawn transitions, including migration, the spread of Christianity and Islam, political-economic development, and modern communication. This popular introduction leaves readers with informed knowledge of the riches of African heritage.

Socio-Cultural and Religious Conflicts and the Future of Nigeria
Socio-Cultural and Religious Conflicts and the Future of Nigeria

Author: Lotanna Olisaemeka

Publisher: LIT Verlag

Published: 2022-12-10

Total Pages: 538

ISBN-13: 3643957564

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With the prevailing violent conflict situation of our world, perpetuated sometimes even in the name of religion, humanity today faces extinction. To reverse this ugly trend, humanity has no choice than to build a society where every tribe and tongue can coexist in peace. This work analyzed the violent conflicts from anthropological, behavioral, politico-philosophical, and theological perspectives, and makes a demand on humanity to save herself through proper education and dialogue with all men and religions. Lotanna Olisaemeka is a researcher in Missiology affiliated with the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule, Vallendar, Germany.