African Conversion Horton (Article)

International African Institute
African Conversion
Author(s): Robin Horton
Source: Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 41, No. 2 (Apr., 1971),
pp. 85-108
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the International African Institute
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AFRICA
JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL AFRICAN INSTITUTE
VOLUME XLI APRIL 1971 NUMBER 2
AFRICAN CONVERSION'
ROBIN HORTON
FOR nearly fifty years the Aladura or 'prayer' churches have been a pro
feature of the Nigerian scene. Their drumming and singing can nowa
heard at almost any time of day or night in most of the larger southern
towns. Their prophets and pastors exert a guiding influence on the lives o
larger proportion of the population. And recently they have even been cre
an important part in bringing rebel resistance to an end in the Nigerian
Similar churches, usually labelled 'Zionist', have been described and an
sociologists, social anthropologists, and comparative religionists working
African countries.2 Hitherto, however, no full-length sociological monog
the subject has appeared from Nigeria. So John Peel's Aladura, a full-leng
of two of these churches in Yorubaland, meets a long-standing need.3
In the first section of the present review article, I shall give an extended
of Aladura. In the second section, I shall attempt a critical appraisal of th
paying special attention to the more general questions that Peel raises an
cases answers. In the third section, I shall concentrate on a question to w
and others have so far provided only partial answers-the question of the
conversion from 'traditional' to 'world' religions. I shall sketch briefly an
pretation which seems to me to resolve some of the problems left outsta
current approaches.
I
Peel begins his book with a brief critical review of previous sociological and social-
anthropological approaches to the type of religious movement with which he is
concerned. Dealing with sociological approaches, he shows that the fashionable
I We are grateful to the author for a contribution 3 J. D. Y. Peel, Aladura: a Religious Movement
towards the printing costs of this paper. among the Yoruba. London: Oxford University Press
2 See for instance: Balandier, 1955; Baeta, I961; for International African Institute, I968.
Holas, 1954; Pauw, 1960; Sundkler, 1961; H. W.
Turner, 1967.
'Africa ', the Journal of the International African Institute, is published by the Institute, but
except where otherwise stated the writers of the articles are responsiblefor the opinions expressed.
Issued quarterly. ? International African Institute, i97. All rights reserved.
G
86 AFRICAN CONVERSION
concepts of' deprivation' and ' anomie ' have very little relevance
of Aladura converts in Nigeria. Dealing with social-anthropologica
deftly exposes the inadequacies of both ' symbolist' and ' function
tions. As the basis of his own approach, he selects a refurbished int
owes more to Max Weber than to Tylor and Frazer. He is careful
of universal applicability for this approach. At the same time, howe
it is well suited to the situation with which he is concerned-a situation in which
the data show the founders of a religious movement actually grappling with the
intellectual challenge of a rapidly changing social scene.
Peel introduces his substantive account with a sketch of 'traditional' Yoruba
culture. Dealing with socio-political organization, he emphasizes variation from town
to town, and multiplicity of principles within any given town. Turning to religion
he stresses the loose articulation of many different cults-a state of affairs which
encourages syncretism and the absorption of new cults. He also stresses the tenuous
ness of relations between religion and social organization-again something which
favours religious innovation, since a change in religious ideas does not necessarily
threaten the established social order. Finally, he characterizes Yoruba religion as
essentially 'this-worldly '-i.e. as concerned with the explanation, prediction, an
control of space-time events.
Peel points out that the society which produced this religion entered into a perio
of prolonged unrest and change with the fall of Oyo and the subsequent civil wars.
The upheavals of the colonial era, therefore, were an acceleration of changes already
taking place rather than a sudden switch from stasis to change.
Islam first appeared in Yorubaland in the mid eighteenth century, whilst Christi
anity appeared in the mid nineteenth century. Islam was brought in by learned me
and traders from the north, Christianity by missionaries coming up from the coas
Christianity had several bleak decades during which its following was restricted t
Sierra Leone 'returnees' and to a handful of people living away from their home
towns. With the advent of the twentieth century, however, Europeans came to b
seen as symbols of power, and Christianity itself came to be seen as part of a large
order, comprising Western education, colonial administration, commerce and
industry, with which everyone had henceforth to reckon. These changes created
much more favourable climate for conversion.
No sooner had the mission churches got into their stride, however, than signs of
disaffection appeared. Yoruba congregations resented the European monopoly of
church authority; and their resentment was exacerbated by strongly authoritarian
patterns of church organization. The result was the rise, during the period I89o-
910 , of the ' African Churches '. These were breakaway bodies headed by Yoruba
bishops who behaved very much like obas, who were backed by polygamous men of
influence, and who presided over organizations of decidedly traditional complexion.I
For all their organizational innovations, however, these churches maintained an
impeccable orthodoxy in the sphere of belief and doctrine.
As the momentum of the African Church movement slackened, a second wave
of secession developed. This wave, made up of the Aladura Churches which are the
main subject of Peel's book, produced not only organizational innovations but also
I For a history of these churches, see Webster, 1964.
AFRICAN CONVERSION 87
radically new beliefs and doctrines. Thus the Aladuras claimed to be able
the causes of this-worldly misfortune by means of dreams and visions, an
to avert or remedy such misfortune by means of prayer and ritual.
The foundations of the Aladura movement were laid in the period I910
salient feature of this period was the rise of prophets such as Egunjobi
Orimolade, illiterate or scantily educated men who claimed divine inspir
who roamed the towns and villages prophesying imminent disaster but o
means of averting it in the form of prayer to God. At first their followers w
young clerks away from home in the bigger towns. But in I919-2I their
prophecies received striking confirmation in the shape of the influenza ep
this terrible visitation undoubtedly did much both to enlarge their follo
broaden its base.
Soon, the activities of these prophets and of their followers crystallized into two
great sectarian organizations. One of these, the Cherubim and Seraphim Society, was
founded in Lagos in 1925 by Moses Orimolade and a young female Christian convert
Abiodun Akinsowon. To start with, its leaders ran it as a special society within the
C.M.S. Church. In i929, however, they broke with the parent body over the question
of healing through prayer, and set themselves up as an independent order. The other,
eventually to be known as the Christ Apostolic Church, was founded, also in Lagos
but in 1923, by a young Ijebu Yoruba clerk called David Odubanjo, who quickly
enrolled his order as a branch of the American Faith Tabernacle sect. Odubanjo was
joined in I926 by Joseph Babalola, another clerk turned free-ranging preacher and
spiritual healer, who was later to assume leadership of the sect.
In their early years, both sects, like the earlier prophets, appealed to a rather special
category of people-young clerks and school-teachers who, though Yoruba, were
serving away from their home towns. Before long, however, several factors inter-
vened to change this situation. First came another terrible epidemic: this time the
bubonic plague which ravaged Yorubaland in the years 1924-6. Then came depres-
sion, famine, and dislocating social change in the late twenties and thirties. The
leaders of the Aladura sects pointed to these misfortunes as signs of God's wrath.
They suggested that God, in his anger at people's sins, had taken away power, both
from the orisha and the traditional healers, and from the orthodox churches. They
claimed that God had none the less given them the power, through prayer and other
techniques, to remedy the ills of individuals and of society. In the circumstances
their message was most successful. Established churches filled to bursting point, and
a host of new prophets gathered in the multitudes as they fanned out into hitherto
unevangelized areas.
In this period of expansion, Cherubim and Seraphim exploited the more westerly
areas of Yorubaland, whilst Faith Tabernacle exploited Ijebuland, Ibadan, and
Eastern Yorubaland. As they grew, both churches changed relationships with their
parent bodies. The Cherubim, as we have already seen, broke with the C.M.S. Faith
Tabernacle first dropped the relationship with its American parent, and enrolled as
a branch of the Welsh Apostolic Church. Then, in I939, it broke away from its second
parent to form the independent Christ Apostolic Church. In the midst of these events
there was a spate of secondary secessions. Powerful branch leaders declared them-
selves independent and launched out on their own course of expansion. One or two
of the resulting churches became as large and important as their paren

instance Ositelu's Church of the Lord.
The most striking outcome of all these developments has been a body of belief
and doctrine quite distinct from that of both missionary and 'African' churches.
Like their pagan predecessors, Aladura members believe in the coexistence of God
and a host of lesser spirits. They make much use, too, of the traditional concept of
agbara: the power of God and the spirits as manifested in the space-time world,
either directly or through the medium of religious leaders. Unlike the pagans, how-
ever, they believe that God has strong moral concerns, punishing sinners with disease
and misfortune, and rewarding the virtuous with health and success. Also unlike the
pagans, they believe that the lesser spirits are uniformly evil, and that they are in
retreat.
As their name indicates, Aladuras believe in the power of prayer. They believe
prayer to God, properly conducted, brings definite and predictable results in
world of space-time events. It cures disease, brings financial success, secures pr
tion, and so on.
Aladuras believe that for prayer to be successful, it must not only be in accor
with the known ways of God, but must also correctly specify and take account o
various visible and invisible forces at work in any given situation. The ways of
are set forth above all in the Bible: hence its close study and interpretation a
supreme importance. The forces at work in a particular situation are discover
through dreams, visions, and, to a lesser extent, through the utterances of p
possessed by the Holy Spirit.
Aladuras also believe that the success of prayer is conditional on the observ
of a number of taboos, of which the most prominent are those on the eating of por
the consumption of alcoholic drinks, contact with menstruating women, and we
of shoes in the prayer-house. Infringement of such taboos can be remedied by r
of purification.
Aladuras account for failure of prayer in terms of moral lapse, ignorance of
ways of God, failure to reckon with all of the various forces involved in a situa
or neglect of taboos.
Aladuras are intensely receptive, not only to the more fundamentalist type
Western Christian literature, but also to a variety of modern Western occult doctrin
-e.g. Spiritualism, Theosophy, and Rosicrucianism. At the same time, they are v
wary of the sciences, and are bitterly hostile to the ' materialism' associated w
them.
So much for the beliefs and doctrines common to all Aladura congregations
between Cherubim and Apostolics, however, there are also one or two signific
points of difference. One difference concerns the balance between Biblica
inspirational guidance. Both churches, as Peel has shown, regard the two type
guidance as complementary to one another. But whilst Cherubim come down
strongly on the side of the inspiration received in dreams and visions-on what
call 'the unwritten words of God ', Apostolics come down more strongly on t
side of the Bible. A more particular difference concerns attitudes to the use of m
cines in healing. Cherubim believe that God has final power in healing as in everythi
else; but on the whole they are tolerant towards medicines both traditional an
modern. Apostolics, on the other hand, are notoriously rigid in their pro
all medicines.
With the distinctive body of Aladura belief and doctrine go distinctive
activity, organization, and authority. Both Cherubim and Apostolics hav
of Sunday and weekly services which, except for the minimal emphasis
Communion, is similar to that of the orthodox churches. Both have a n
familiar annual services such as Harvest Festivals, Annual Concerts, and A
Processions. Both have a number of special-purpose church societies
made up of youths of a single age and sex bracket. In both Cherubim and
churches, however, a key part is played by the ' praying bands ', groups
who meet twice a week to heal sick and needy members by prayer and
guidance of visions and trance utterances. In addition to their regular me
' praying bands ' assemble from time to time for revivals, during the cour
they go out into the highways and byways to convert the non-Aladura
Whereas the more formal Sunday and weekly services are dominated by
of the church, the' praying bands ' are in many cases dominated by youn
Church societies, too, are largely dominated by youths. This division of
in which elders dominate the more formal and restrained activities, wh
dominate the more informal and active occasions, is strongly reminiscent of t
Yoruba patterns of social organization.
Patterns of authority vary considerably from congregation to congrega
are three main authority roles: prophet, elder, and pastor. The prophet
authority to divinely inspired dreams and visions. He is largely concerne
diagnosis of individual and collective misfortune, and with remedying i
prayer. The elder owes his authority to his position in society at large,
principally with questions affecting harmony among church members.
owes his authority to appointment either by the congregation or by high
authority. He deals with church administration, with conduct of routin
and with transmission and interpretation of the Biblical message and of
doctrines. Most congregations carry a combination of two or more of t
Usually, they are held by different people. In some cases, however, two
three may be held by the same person.
In the early stages of Aladura development, the typical congregation
by a prophet and an elder. The prophet dealt with the more spiritual asp
congregation's activity, the elder with the more mundane aspects. The
power between these two figures varied widely-the particular position
on the relative strengths of the personalities involved, on wealth, linea
so on. As the congregation grew, others received the call to prophecy. S
they stayed put, working alongside the original prophet. Often, they h
found their own congregations. Such things could happen acrimoniously
quarrel over leadership, or they could happen quite amicably. An ac
departure usually led to the formation of a separate church. An amicable
led to the founding of a new congregation which recognized the sen
authority of the parent body. Several such departures led to the formation
of congregations whose components recognized each other as fellow mem
same church, and looked to the parent body as their headquarters. The or
9? AFRICAN CONVERSION
of such a church, however, tended to remain rudimentary. The prophet

congregations might regard the founder as prinmus inter pares; but t
divine inspiration as direct as his own, and this set limits to the extent to
were prepared to regard him as an over-all authority. Again, the elder
congregations relied for their position on local followings similar to tha
of the original congregation, and possibly as extensive. Hence they t
inclined to accept the over-all authority of the parent body. As a resu
developed no headquarters apparatus distinct from its local organizat
church as a whole never became much more than a loose coalition.
This pattern of development has remained characteristic of the various Cherubim
and Seraphim sects right down to the present day; and it does much to explain the
current organizational situation amongst these sects.
Among Cherubim and Seraphim the third of the three authority roles, that of
pastor, has only recently begun to emerge. Among Apostolics, by contrast, it has
been central for many years. The causes of this important difference would seem to
lie in the realm of historical accident. Thus the founders of the Cherubim happened
to be illiterate or slightly literate, and to have little or no knowledge of Western
bureaucratic forms. The founders of the Apostolic church, on the other hand, were
both more highly literate and more familiar with such Western forms. This differ-
ence helps account for the fact that whilst the Cherubim never tried to make contact
or to affiliate with an organized Western church, the Apostolics got themselves
affiliated, first to the Philadelphia Faith Tabernacle, and later to the Welsh Apostolic
Church. Both of these churches identified themselves in terms of specific doctrines,
and defined their leaders as pastors-i.e. as expounders and appliers of the doctrines.
Their Nigerian followers readily adopted these characteristics.
Now prophetic authority, as Peel has shown earlier, readily transcends the bound-
aries of local groupings, but cannot easily be made the basis of a system of hierarchical
relationships. And gerontic authority can neither transcend local boundaries nor
provide the basis of a hierarchy. Pastoral authority, on the other hand, rests on criteria
of training and efficiency which both transcend local boundaries and are thoroughly
compatible with hierarchical relationships. Hence whilst the various Cherubim sects
have remained loose, poorly organized coalitions, Christ Apostolic has grown into
a church with a stable hierarchy and a reasonably effective central organization.
It is these organizational differences, argues Peel, which lie behind the doctrinal
differences that divide Cherubim from Apostolics. Amongst the former, the domi-
nance of the prophet makes for an emphasis on the gradual unfolding of God's will-
on ' God's unwritten words '; and it results in a system of beliefs which moves with
the times. Amongst the latter, the dominance of the pastor as the expounder of a
written doctrine makes for emphasis on this doctrine as the yardstick against which
all forms of inspiration must be measured, and for a static belief-system that remains
tied to the circumstances under which the church was founded.
In this context, the sharp differences between Cherubim and Apostolics over the
use of medicines are immediately comprehensible. Thus both became institu-
tionalized at a period, in the late twenties and early thirties, when the disorganization
of society and the ravages of epidemic disease made it reasonable to suppose that
God, in his anger at the sins of mankind, had withdrawn efficacy from such normal
human means of self-help as medicines. In

rely for one's safety on penitence and prayer
as a distraction; and this in fact was what
do. As the situation returned to normal, Ch
back to the judicious use of medicines bot
pastors preaching rigid adherence to doctri
of foundation, continued to forswear all m
One of the most interesting sections of Pe
the social characteristics of Aladura and Orthodox church members. He bases his
discussion on a sample of men drawn from four congregations in the immigrant
area of Ibadan-two Aladura (a Cherubim and an Apostolic), and two Orthodox
(an Anglican and an 'African '). He admits the unrepresentative character of the
Aladura part of his sample vis-a-vis the totality of present-day Aladura congregations.
However, he gives two reasons why it is of particular interest. One is that its peculiar
characteristics are those of the original Aladura congregations. The other is that it is
representative of that big-town immigrant sector of the Aladura movement which
would appear to be its fastest-growing part.
Analysis of this sample reveals the typical Aladura member as a moderately
educated person with an occupation in the modernizing sector of the economy and
an income in the middle range. He is addicted to membership of a variety of urban
associations. He is frequently polygamous, and is turning increasingly towards a
marriage-partner drawn from his own church. The striking thing is that in all this,
he differs very little from the typical Anglican or 'African' member from the same
district.
Aladura members tend to be converts from orthodox churches-usually those into
which they were born. In 26 per cent of the cases in Peel's sample, conversion seems
to have been the result of successful treatment of actual sickness or misfortune. In
most other cases, it seems to have been the result of a feeling that the Aladuras would
provide better protection against these things than the orthodox churches. Aladura
members tend to commend their churches, first in terms of answers to prayers for
health, wealth, and general success, and only secondly in terms of such 'spiritual'
benefits as peace and salvation. Here again, there is a striking resemblance to the
attitudes of members of the orthodox churches-a resemblance which is all the more
intriguing for the fact that though such attitudes are positively encouraged by official
Aladura doctrines, they are if anything discouraged by official orthodox doctrines.
From these findings, it would appear that almost any member of an orthodox
church is a potential member of an Aladura church. Indeed, it would appear that the
typical member of an orthodox church is an Aladura at heart, and has a strong tend-
ency to cross over from one institution to the other in order to achieve congruence
between his private beliefs and official church doctrines.
Peel points out that although many converts enter Aladura churches of their own
accord, the majority are led into them by the commendations of others; and he has
some interesting things to say about the channels which these commendations
follow.
An obvious occasion of mass proselytization is the revival meeting, conducted
from time to time by both Cherubim and Apostolic praying bands. But there are
many other, less formal, channels of communication and persuasion. I

geneous, immigrant areas of the big towns, one of the most important of s
is the relation between the craftsman and his apprentices. In more h
traditionally oriented milieux, the most important channel is the relation b
traditional leader (king, chief, or man of influence) and his followin
stressed, the growing points of the Aladura churches are the congre
immigrant areas of the big towns. But many of the clerks, teachers, a
these congregations are chiefs and men of influence back in their ho
Aladura beliefs and church branches diffuse steadily outward from t
modernization in which they were first elaborated, into more tradit
milieux.
In the course of this diffusion, two things happen. On the one hand
movement undergoes various changes as it enters more traditionally
roundings. Exactly what these changes are is not entirely clear from P
but it would seem that the more traditional the environment, the mo
pre-Christian emphasis in Aladura beliefs, rituals, values, and organizat
On the other hand, Aladura patterns, long since institutionalized in th
have acquired a momentum of their own. Initially such patterns wer
variable-the product of the impact of very special social circumstances
minority of the population involved in them. Certain aspects of the re
and doctrines, however, have turned out to appeal to a social circle f
that represented by the founding congregations. These beliefs and doc
over, have become associated with a powerful organizational apparatu
cadres of religious specialists and enthusiasts for whom their tran
propagation has become an end in itself. As a result, Aladura patterns
as an independent variable, an active leaven bringing about change in s
quite different from those that gave them birth.
Of considerable importance in this context is the fact that Aladuras
written doctrines. For the writing down of a belief fixes it and so p
unique way against the influence of changing social circumstances. W
of pastor or expounder of written doctrine has been strongly institut
fixing effect is particularly strong. Since Apostolics lay greater stre
doctrines and a pastorate than Seraphim, they are better placed than the la
as an active missionary force in the wider society.
In his conclusion, Peel starts by reiterating that traditional Yoruba cu
loosely articulated with each other and with the social organization,
were concerned above all with easing conditions of life in this world.
of integration of their cults, and the fact that these cults were not se
pinning the social status quo, made it particularly easy for Yorubas to a
cult of Christianity; for in the circumstances, they saw it as a threat n
existing religious set-up nor to the existing patterns of social organiza
insistence of Christianity on displacing all other cults delayed its abs
Yoruba culture; but when a period of rapid social change obliterated
fields of experience with which the traditional cults concerned them
obstacle was largely removed. However, because Yorubas saw religion
tially this-worldly instrument, the version of Christianity they came
also a this-worldly one. As such, it proved incompatible w
of the missionary churches, and hence demanded the
framework which found its realization in the Aladura sect
Given the nature of the conversion process in Yorubalan
the early Aladuras should be people strongly involved in t
order-young clerks, teachers, and traders working aw
towns. The occupational background of such people led th
on written doctrine and on rationality. Hence the great i
attached to the Bible. Hence, too, their support for the rad
all misfortune was attributed to the anger of God at huma
all power to relieve misfortune was believed to reside in p
to Him.
Peel ends by pointing out that although one can trace partial parallels to the
Aladura movement in different movements at various times in European history,
one can find no exact parallel at any one time or place. This is because the Aladura
churches ' combine the attributes of the change-over from primitive to world reli-
gions with those of the religious adaptation to industrialisation-processes which in
Europe were a thousand years apart'.
II
If I have taken considerable space to summarize Peel's Aladura, this is because the
book is something of a landmark in the study of African religions. At the moment,
this sphere of scholarship is still very much the preserve of the social anthropologists.
And many of the latter are in the grip of a theoretical orthodoxy which, to those who
look at their work from the sidelines, is singularly barren. I refer to the ' symbolist'
orthodoxy: the view that the spiritual beings of African cosmologies can only be
understood if they are seen as symbols. John Beattie has put its case with much force-
fulness and persistence.' But for all his attempts to deal with objections, he has not
come up with an answer to the first question which any interpretation of religious
phenomena must tackle. Why spiritual beings ? Why should men have felt constrained
to invent symbols with such very odd attributes as those of unobservability and
omnipresence? Similar criticisms apply to the work of Victor Turner, which has
captured the imaginations of Anglo-American anthropologists over the last decade.2
For all the brilliance and meticulousness of his work on Ndembu ritual symbolism,
spiritual beings remain wrapped in mystery in the background of Ndembu ritual
occasions. Turner does not make the mistake of confusing the symbols used in
approaching spiritual beings with the beings themselves; but while he explains the
symbols, he does nothing to account for the presence of the spirits. Again, why
spiritual beings ?
Prominent among critics of anthropological orthodoxy in this sphere are the
comparative religionists. All the signs are that their criticism is very much a pre-
liminary bombardment-a softening-up operation prior to a massive invasion of the
field. So far, however, the advance guards of the invasion have proved rather dis-
appointing. They have produced some rich and interesting descriptive accounts;
See for instance, Beattie, 1964, esp. ch. 13, and 2 V. W. Turner, I967 and I968.
I966.
but they have offered little of interest in the way of interpretation. A good example
here is that of H. W. Turner, who has recently produced a very full account of one
of the secondary secessionist sects of Yorubaland-The Church of the Lord, Ala-
dura.' Though his descriptions of church beliefs, doctrines, values, activities, and
patterns of organization are magnificent in their richness and detail, Turner does little
to satisfy our curiosity as to why spiritual beings play such a prominent part in African
traditional world-views, or as to why people become converted from such world-
views, first to mission Christianity and then to Aladura religion. When the occasional
interpretative concept does flit briefly across the scene, it has a strong flavour of
mystification and tautology-as, for instance, the concept of ' spiritual hunger',
supposedly the driving force of conversion.2 Anyone who welcomed the new invaders
as bringing a wind of change is likely to end up by muttering 'plus Sa change, plus
c'est la meme chose'.
Disillusioned both with anthropological orthodoxy and with the comparative
religionists, a number of philosophers and philosophically minded social scientists
have recently been calling for a return to the intellectualist approach which takes
systems of traditional religious belief at their face value-i.e. as theoretical systems
intended for the explanation, prediction, and control of space-time events.3
In two previous papers I have shown that intellectualism is in fact the only real
starter in this field. This is because it is the only approach capable of answering the
question: why should traditional African cultures make the uses they do of concepts
referring to entities with the peculiar properties attributed to spiritual beings?4
With this demonstration accomplished, the way is open for studies of religious
variation and change.
Peel's book is perhaps the first full-length monograph on an African religious
situation to apply the intellectualist approach systematically. Its central theme is that
of a people struggling to adapt its stock of theoretical concepts to the explanation,
prediction, and control of events in a new and unfamiliar social situation. In the
course of reading it, we find ourselves achieving a depth of understanding of religious
change that would have seemed impossible in the heyday of the 'functionalists'
and the ' symbolists '.
A special merit of the book is that it lays once and for all the commonest objection
to the intellectualist approach-i.e. that it does justice neither to the emotional nor
to the social factors that influence belief. On the one hand, Peel shows that Yoruba
clerks, teachers, and traders, in developing new religious concepts for the interpreta-
tion of a new world, are concerning themselves with situations carrying very high
emotional charges; and he stresses that it is these emotional charges which lend
urgency to the interpretative quest. On the other hand, he shows that the changes of
belief with which he deals are responses, amongst other things, to changes in social
organization. He also shows the intricate interdependence that exists between patterns
of belief and patterns of sect organization.
I H. W. Turner, 1967. 3 See for instance: Jarvie, 1964; Jarvie and

2 H. W. Turner, I963, p. II2. On the other hand, Agassi, I967; Lukes, 1967, pp. 247-64.
see Turner, I967, pp. 310, 358, where he comes close 4 Horton, 1967.
to hinting that Aladura members are low on spiritual
experience.
Aladura is one of the very few scholarly works yet to have posed fairly and squarely
the question of why adherents of an African traditional religion should become con-
verts to a faith whose central features are a morally concerned supreme being and
a monolatric cult. And, whether its answers are right or wrong, it is one of the few
such works to have given serious answers. Peel has a lot of suggestive things to
say on the actual phenomenology of the process glibly called 'conversion '. His
stress on the continuities between old and new beliefs involved in this process is
relevant for the work of all scholars concerned with African religious change. As
shown earlier, Peel sees the concern with explanation, prediction, and control of
space-time events as the central continuity; and in pointing to the inability of the
orthodox churches to countenance this concern, he is, I think, putting his finger
on the most enduring and omnipresent factor behind African separatism generally.I
Also of significance far beyond the Yoruba scene is Peel's discussion of the way
in which cosmological beliefs, after starting as dependent variables of a particular
social situation, go on to acquire an institutional framework which transforms them
into independent variables with their own power to bring about ideological and social
change. Of similarly wide significance is his discussion of the way in which written as
opposed to oral transmission helps to bring about this transformation by 'freezing'
beliefs and so insulating them from the effects of social change. Here it is worth
recalling Goody's earlier hypotheses about the consequences of literacy; for Peel's
book is a case study which provides validation of at least some of these hypotheses.2
In a rich and fertile book of this kind, there are bound to be a few misjudgements
alongside all the insights; and we must examine these before going any further. The
misjudgements would seem to be of two main kinds: those deriving from over-
enthusiastic use of Weberian concepts; and those deriving from overemphasis on the
peculiarity of the situation with which the book is concerned.
Fruitful as Weber has been in inspiring the general approach of this book, two of
his conceptual tools have, I think, been put to unfortunate use in it. One of these is
the distinction between' this-worldly' and ' other-worldly ' religions, and the other
is the concept of' rationalization'.
As I have already stressed, Peel makes a point of Africa-wide validity when he
contrasts traditional religion, concerned with providing a theory of the space-time
world and its working, with modern Western Christianity, which carefully eschews
any such concern. But he obscures the nature of this vital contrast when he applies to
the former the label ' this-worldly' and to the latter the label ' other-worldly '.
Most African traditional religion does in fact have a dual nature. In the first place,
its gods are theoretical entities, and their rituals a set of practices designed to apply
theory to the control of the world. Secondly, the gods are people, and their rituals
an extension to the field of purely human social relationships. African Christianity
inherits a good measure of this dual nature from its traditional predecessor. Early
Western Christianity also had a dual nature, its God, its Christ, and its saints all being
I Various forms of protest are, of course, impor- centrality of the need for a theory of the space-time
tant factors in the genesis and survival of separatist world and its working is echoed in BaSta, Pauw,
movements. But many of these forms are linked to Sundkler, and H. W. Turner, op. cit.
the colonial situation and pass away with it; whilst 2 Goody, I963.
separatism goes on unabated. Peel's emphasis on the
both theoretical entities and people. From the seventeenth century onward
profound changes in the nature of European society and in the latter's rel
to the non-human environment made for a gradual but inexorable chang
idiom of theory. Slowly but surely, a personal theoretical model of the wo
working gave way to an impersonal model. God, Christ, and the spirits f
less and less as theoretical entities, and survived in the human imagination, wh
survived at all, as people. By the end of the nineteenth century the main
Euro-American Protestant Christianity had dropped all pretence of p
theory of how the world really worked, or a recipe for controlling the cou
affairs; and theologians and pastors concentrated on the encounter with G
supreme and archetypal social relationship. It was such an outlook with w
missionaries confronted the Yoruba and other African peoples.'
The contrast, then, is between religions in which the gods are both th
entities and people, and a religion in which the gods are only people.
The question that now arises is: what is the most apt pair of terms with
designate the two components we are dealing with here ? Possible pairs of t
spring readily to mind are ' cognitive '/' emotional' and ' theoretical '/' p
Both of these pairs, however, have potentially misleading connotations.
inclination is to go for a slightly more cumbersome terminology which ca
risk of misunderstanding, and to talk on the one hand of 'explanation-p
control ' and on the other of' communion '. If this is accepted, the contra
one of religions which combine explanation-prediction-control and comm
with a religion which is pure communion.2
At this point, however, a further question arises. In what way is Peel's W
terminology any more misleading than the cumbersome replacement that
proposed? The answer is that the two distinctions made are quite differe
although explanation-prediction-control is obviously a this-worldly busin
munion can be either this-worldly or other-worldly.
Let me elaborate. It is axiomatic that, in the social field of the individual, eve
of his or her relationships has some modifying effect on all the others, and is
modified by them. So, to the extent that the gods are people, relationships wit
affect and are affected by relationships with other men. Now this can wo
different ways. Either the gods in people's social field can have the effect of e
and intensifying their relationships with other human beings, or they ca
effect of weakening or extinguishing such relationships. In the first case,
this-worldly communion, and in the second case other-worldly communio
In traditional African religion, the communion aspect tends to take a thi
form; and a very good example of it is in fact provided by the Yoruba c
orisa. The orisa, considered as theoretical entities, are forces of nature in th
sense of the phrase. That is, they are concerned on the one hand with the n
I An elderly parson, describing early efforts to want us to climb to the top of a tall palm
evangelize his home town of Buguma in the Eastern take off our hands and let ourselves fal
Niger Delta, gave me a vivid characterization of this 2 This is a modification of the contra
outlook as it appeared to a pre-Christian audience. 'manipulation ' and ' communion' pro
According to him, the people, having pondered the ' A Definition of Religion and its Us
message presented to them, started to confront the I960).
evangelists with the question: ' Does your God really
environment, and on the other hand with' natural' as opposed to ' social'
with human individuality.' A person is often directed to the worship of a
orisa by a diviner after a run of misfortunes; and it would seem that the orisa
tends to be one that is somehow appropriate to the victim's personality. I
sequent ritual relations with the orisa, the man is partly putting theory in
-harnessing the forces that govern his individuality and manipulating the
they yield him good fortune. At the same time, however, he is engaged
munion-investing a great deal of energy and emotion in a gradually
relationship with a loved and respected alter. He identifies strongly with
often to the point of achieving intermittent possession by him. As time
everyday personality comes more and more to resemble that attributed t
and grows more highly integrated and more decisive. An important result
relations with his fellow men gain in intensity and effectiveness.2 Here, then,
a very intricate blend of explanation-prediction-control and communion
the effects predicted by theory (strengthening and integration of the persona
actually realized as a result of communion. It is a blend, moreover, in w
components are clearly this-worldly.
Now the history of Western Christianity is full of communion relation
very different from those of Yoruba with their orisa; relationships of dee
involvement and identification with God, Christ, and the saints, which
concerned an immense strength and effectiveness in relations with their f
From the earliest days, such this-worldly communion has had a central pla
in Christian practice, but also in Christian thought and theology.3 At the
in many of its monks and mystics, Christianity has had a host of adheren
communion has pulled them away from their fellow men and has thus been th
other-worldly.
My own tentative impression is that, over the last 300 years of Western
other-worldly communion has progressively given way to this-worldly.
early twentieth-century Protestant missionary Christianity was as this-wo
was exclusively concerned with communion. It can indeed be argued t
missionaries had come in with a straight other-worldly creed, the Yoruba
other African peoples would have rejected them. As it was, they came with the
of a new source of strength which would enable people to live in and co
new world. In the circumstances, it was easy to assume that the promise
a new system of explanation-prediction-control; and it required a more
inside acquaintance with the churches before people could see that all that
offered them was a new form of communion.
For some people, the above paragraphs may smack of hair-splitting. To bring
home the importance of the distinction between this-worldly and other-worldly
communion, it may be necessary to view modern Western Christianity alongside
some of the mystical religions of the East. Indeed, in the notorious lack of impact
I For the orisa as forces controlling the non- 2 For observations on the effect of orisa worship
human environment, see Morton-Williams, I956, on the worshipper, I am indebted to conversations
p. 315; Verger, 1966, p. 37; For the orisa as forces with Ulli Beier.
controlling human individuality, see Morton- 3 For expositions of this-worldly communion in
Williams, 1964, p. 246; Morton-Williams and modem Western Christianity, see Lee, 1967, esp.
Wescott, 1962. p. 170; Barry, I969, esp. ch. 3.
of Christian missionaries upon the adherents of such religions, we m

see a sign of the deep practical reality of the distinction.
So much for this-worldliness and other-worldliness. Let us now turn our
to Peel's second piece of Weberian conceptual equipment; the notion o
tion '. For Peel, following Weber, to rationalize is 'to reorder one's re
in a new and more coherent way to be more in line with what one kno
ences '. Such a concept, in itself, is obviously innocuous enough. The
when Peel, again following Weber, credits certain social categories w
propensity for rationalization than others, and certain types of cosm
higher degree of rationality than others. Thus on the one hand, he p
clerkdom, as an occupation, involves a greater tendency towards ration
farming or traditional craftsmanship; whilst on the other hand, he
Aladura monolatry is more highly rational than either traditional re
mixture of traditional and Christian beliefs held by many converts.
have anatural affinity for Aladura monolatry.I
All this seems to me to be very dubious. First of all, there is no ev
clerks have a greater propensity towards rationalization than farmers
Peel himself has made abundantly clear, a small but important handf
from a predominantly agricultural background have been in the for
religious changes which he describes. Thus he tells us that even babala
diviners) have integrated the supreme being of Islam and Christianit
pantheons; that in Efon Alaye the agent of a forest spirit was one of the f
claim the death of the old religion and the birth of the new; and that
first prophets of Aladura monolatry were illiterate or barely literat
hunters rather than literate urban clerks. It is difficult to see how Peel's thesis of the
congruence between clerkly and Aladura rationality can account for the presence of
such people in the forefront of the converted; and he himself, indeed, leaves their
presence quite unexplained.2
As regards the rationality of Yoruba and other traditional religions, I think Peel
inherits two questionable views from Weber and other predecessors. One is the view
that ideas about the pre-Christian gods make little reference to regularity or pre-
dictability-a view which shows itself briefly in his statement that in pre-Christian
as opposed to Aladura religion 'power was not inhibited by doctrine '.3 Another is
the tendency to confound a multiplicity of gods with incoherence, and a single god
with coherence.
It is true that traditional Yoruba religion is exceedingly complex, but at least some
of the work done to date suggests that the various spiritual beings which feature in its
cosmology are thought of as operating in a more or less regular manner. Indeed, the
provision of a special place in Yoruba cosmology for Esu the Trickster argues a view
of the other orisa as essentially predictable. Again, despite the multiplicity of spiritual
agencies in the traditional religion, each would appear to have its particular sphere of
influence. Hence the multiplicity is an articulated system rather than a free-for-all.4
I Peel, op. cit., pp. 138, 294-5. Morton-Williams, I960, p. 373, for the following
2 However, he certainly sees that there is a prob- observation:
lem: as witness his remarks in op. cit., p. 83. 'In discussions of Yoruba religion, contem-
3 Peel, op. cit., p. 38. plative Ogboni men will often introduce such phrases
4 See Morton-Williams, op. cit., 1964. See also as "I know that everything must have it
Very little, of course, has yet been done by way of
religion in action in daily life; and it may be too la
work of this kind. So the full extent of regularity
be ascertained. Elsewhere in Africa, however, resul
suggest that the spiritual beings of the traditional c
of as operating in a more or less regular manner, an
agencies is by no means synonymous with confusion
Again, it is questionable whether the various co
Christian cult made by individual members of Yoru
are as ad hoc as Peel implies. From the point of view
whom Christian and traditional ideas are incompatib
ally appears as ' a welter of rationales '.J From the p
cerned, however, the combination may represent a
A lot more work needs to be done before we can giv
Given the present state of our knowledge, it se
traditionalists and clerks have similar average prop
and (b) that both pre-Christian polytheism and Ala
various individual syntheses lying between them, ma
ality. Such an assumption is in fact quite compatib
of Peel's book. Indeed, the understanding of the co
from this book would have benefited from a tot
'rationalization ' and ' rationality '.
As I said earlier, the second main source of misjud
overestimation of the peculiarity of the cultural situati
Though at some points he makes it clear that he is d
widely distributed throughout the African or even t
points he gives the impression that traditional Yorub
from those of most other African cultures, and that
idiosyncratic response to Christianity.
In dealing with traditional Yoruba religion, for in
markedly from most other traditional religions in t
both with each other and with the social structure. A
loom large in his explanation of Yoruba conversion t
where existing gods and cults are only loosely co-o
acceptance of one more god and its accompanying
Again, he says that where existing gods and cults ar
the social structure, they can be subtracted from, adde
out threatening the structure; and this too makes r
In fact, it is doubtful whether the alleged peculia
great as Peel believes them to be.
First of all, as I have already pointed out, the mul
the sign of a religious free-for-all. The multiplicity
meaning that whatever the orisa do for mankind is Trickster d
a consequence of human action: implicit is a denial unless he him
of the ordinary man's conviction that there is an I Peel, op.
element of irresponsibility or of chance in events; 2 For evid
implicit also is the awareness that Elegbara, the churchgoer
I00 AFRICAN CONVERSION
there is no reason to think it either more or less receptive to new gods and
any other traditional pantheon.
Secondly, whilst it is true that the orisa, as forces of nature and of h
duality, loom very large in Yoruba cosmology, they are balanced by t
ancestors and by the community earth-spirit, both of whose cults are ' offi
concerns.' Hence the degree of co-ordination between religion and socia
far from negligible. If anthropological accounts of other African traditi
display much higher degrees of co-ordination, we now know enoug
functionalist fanaticism rather than the nature of the data.2 Indeed, if we t
guide a schema in which the forces of nature (i.e. the non-human envir
the individualistic aspect of man) are balanced by forces underpinning v
of the established social order, we shall find that such a schema fits not
cosmology, but a good many other African cosmologies as well. Yoruba
have some unique emphases and elaborations; but it none the less has a
in common with other traditional African religions.3
Thirdly, Peel writes in some passages as if the Yoruba response t
mission activity was a highly idiosyncratic one. Yet anyone who come
after comparative reading in this sphere will find much that is already
short, much of it is really concerned with a particular instance of an
process.
One final criticism of Aladura concerns the phenomenology of
Despite all the fruitful things Peel has to say on this subject, he makes
when he talks of Christianity as if it were one more cult coming in a
existing cults of the orisa. For one salient feature of Christian prosel
Yorubaland has surely been the identification of the Christian God with
ous supreme being Olorun, and the presentation of Christianity as the' t
contacting this being.4 Indeed, it would seem that missionaries all over
usually striven to discover the name of the indigenous supreme being
successful, have then gone on to tell the people of his' true ' nature. Hence t
convert has not accepted an addition to the pantheon of lesser spirits. R
accepted change and development in his concept of the supreme being
some readers may find this point too obvious to be worth stressing, I
key to further development of an intellectualist theory of conversion.
In the last section of this paper I attempt a preliminary sketch of su
In so far as it endeavours to meet the criticisms raised above and to account
of the things Peel leaves unexplained, my attempt has a corrective inten
same time, as will be obvious, it draws heavily on Peel's intellectualist
tries to show how they can be further developed. It is intended to com
approach rather than to refute it.5
I See Morton-Williams, op. cit., i96o and I964. forces of nature are counter-balanced
2 My friend Raymond Apthorpe pointed out to of established social order, see Mid
me in conversation a good many years ago that the esp. ch. V; Horton, g962a; Murra
prevailing vogue of 'functional explanation ' had duction.
a highly selective effect in determining which cate- 4 Peel does seem to recognize th
gories of spirits were noticed and which neglected cretism and Religious Change' (Peel,
in descriptions of African cosmologies. 5 For an earlier and sketchier attemp
3 For other African cosmologies in which the theory, see Horton, x962b. For an at
AFRICAN CONVERSION IOI
III
I begin with a sketch of what I shall brashly call the 'typical traditional cos-
mology '.
The core of this cosmology is a system of ideas about unobservable personal
beings whose activities are alleged to underpin the events of the ordinary, everyday
world. Applied to this world, the system enables its users to see identities of process
underlying apparent diversity, and to chart causal regularities underlying apparent
anomaly. In short, it provides an impressive instrument for explanation, prediction,
and control.
The salient feature of the system is its two-tiered arrangement of unobservables.
In the first tier we find the lesser spirits, which are in the main concerned with the
affairs of the local community and its environment-i.e. with the microcosm. In the
second tier we find a supreme being concerned with the world as a whole-i.e. with
the macrocosm. Just as the microcosm is part of the macrocosm, so the supreme
being is defined as the ultimate controller and existential ground of the lesser spirits.
In many (though not all) areas, the religious situation of the pre-Islamic, pre-
Christian phase is characterized by a rich proliferation of ideas about the lesser spirits
and their modes of action. Most events, fortunate or unfortunate, are attributed to
their agency. Certain categories of them are thought to underpin and sanction human
morality. There is a wealth of techniques for approaching and manipulating them.
Ideas about the supreme being tend to be thinner and vaguer. Few events are directly
attributed to him. He seldom has a direct concern with human morality. Techniques
for approaching him are poorly developed.
If what I have said about the respective domains of spirits and supreme being is
put in the context of some elementary facts about the pre-modern social situation,
this difference between the two tiers of the cosmology becomes readily under-
standable.
The essence of the pre-modern situation is that most events affecting the life of the
individual occur within the microcosm of the local community, and that this micro-
cosm is to a considerable extent insulated from the macrocosm of the wider world.
Since most significant social interaction occurs within the local community, moral
rules tend to apply within this community rather than universally-i.e. within the
microcosm rather than within the macrocosm. Given the association of lesser spirits
with microcosm and supreme being with macrocosm, it follows from these facts that
the former will be credited with direct responsibility for most events of human con-
cern, will be the primary guardians of morality, and will be the objects of constant
approach by human beings, whilst the latter will be credited with direct responsibility
for relatively few events of human concern, will have no direct association with
morality, and will seldom be approached by human beings.'
the theory to a particular case of religious change, For examples, see Evans-Pritchard, I956; Lien-
see my 'A Hundred Years of Change in Kalabari hardt, 1961. It may well be possible to reconcile
Religion' (Horton, I970). such findings with the hypothesis sketched here, on
I This passage refers to what might be called the the assumption that variations in the extent of the
'standard' situation. In fact, certain cultures show pagan cult of the supreme being are correlated with
considerable development of the cult of the supreme variations in the extent to which the macrocosm
being even in the pre-Christian, pre-Muslim phase. impinges on the life of the individual.
H
I02 AFRICAN CONVERSION
Because this brief sketch shows the traditional cosmology working in

ditioned by its social environment, it gives us a means of predicting how
religious ideas will respond to certain changes in this environment. Indeed
us the means of performing a most interesting thought-experiment.
The essence of the experiment is that we confront the traditional cosmo
an imaginary set of changes, and use our model of its working to predict its r
The changes in question are imaginary rather than actual because they invo
gross subtractions from historical reality. Thus they involve the introd
various features of the modern situation, minus Islam and Christianity. Th
the massive development of commerce and of nation states, without the c
influx of Islamic and Christian proselytizers. For our purposes their most
consequences are dramatic improvements in communications, with accom
economic and political developments that override the boundaries be
various microcosms. Such developments lure a great many people away f
microcosms and set them down in a wider world. To a greater or lesser ex
confront even the stay-at-homes with a weakening of the boundaries whic
insulated their various microcosms from this wider world.
Now on the basis of our model, we can predict that such changes will affect the
traditional cosmology in the following ways:
I. As an explanatory system, traditional religious thought is closely adjusted to
a particular set of social circumstances. At the same time, in the largely unelaborated
concept of the supreme being, as well as in various other respects, it has considerable
adaptive potential. Hence, faced with the interpretative challenge of social change,
its adherents do not just abandon it in despair. Rather, they remould and develop
it until it attains, once more, its pristine level of explanatory coverage. The end result,
therefore, is as much an instrument of explanation-prediction-control as was the
pre-change cosmology.
2. If thousands of people find themselves outside the microcosms, and if even
those left inside see the boundaries weakening if not actually dissolving, they can
only interpret these changes by assuming that the lesser spirits (underpinners of the
microcosms) are in retreat, and that the supreme being (underpinner of the macro-
cosm) is taking over direct control of the everyday world. Hence they come to regard
the lesser spirits as irrelevant or downright evil. Hence, too, they develop a far more
elaborate theory of the supreme being and his ways of working in the world, and a
battery of new ritual techniques for approaching him and directing his influence.
3. As more and more people become involved in social life beyond the confines
of their various microcosms, they begin to evolve a moral code for the governance
of this wider life. Since the supreme being is already defined as the arbiter of every-
thing that transcends the boundaries of the microcosms, he is seen as underpinning
this universalist moral code. From a position of moral neutrality, he moves to one of
moral concern.
4. In the traditional cosmology, lesser spirits and supreme being are defined in
strongly contrasted terms. Hence relations between man and spirits and relations
between man and supreme being are seen as different in kind. In consequence, ritual
approaches to the supreme being take forms quite distinct from those of approaches
to the spirits. This distinction is already evident in the rudimentary cult of the supreme
AFRICAN CONVERSION 1o3
being practised in the pre-change situation. It becomes more obvious when th

is elaborated in response to change.
5. Most of the developments described above are matters of degree rather t
kind. Hence there is an infinite number of potential positions between trad
religious life and the full-blooded monolatric cult of a morally concerned su
being.
The particular position taken up by a given individual will depend largely on the
degree to which, in his own personal life, the boundaries of the microcosm have
ceased to confine him. Thus if he continues to live in his own local community,
engaged in an occupation such as farming, the greater part of his religious life is still
likely to be taken up by the cult of the lesser spirits. His ritual approaches to the
supreme being are likely to be intermittent and of marginal importance to him.
If he continues to live in his own community, but engages in a ' modern ' occupation
like keeping a hardware store which is more highly integrated with the economy of
the macrocosm, the cult of the spirits will be a little less important to him, and the
cult of the supreme being a little more important. Finally, if he goes to work outside
his own community, as well as engaging in a 'modern' occupation, the cult of the
lesser spirits is likely to be overshadowed by that of the supreme being.
In this matter of individual cosmological adjustment, the philosophers of tradi-
tional religious belief are in a rather peculiar position. Nearly every traditional cos-
mology has its philosophers-people who see the system as a whole and with all of
its ramifying implications for the world. Most frequently they are to be found among
the diviners; but they also crop up among the cult priests and even among ordinary
laymen. The pragmatic majority of the population tends to rely on such people for
exposition of the cosmology in its relation to everyday events; and they play a crucial
part in transmitting it from one generation to another.
Now although the philosophers fill a thoroughly traditional role, the very nature
of their involvement with the old cosmology makes it likely that they will be more
acutely aware of the interpretative challenge of modern change than anyone else.
Some will react by trying to deny change or campaign for its reversal. Others, seeing
that what has happened can neither be denied nor reversed, will set to work extending
and developing the existing cosmology in such a way as to account for the new social
situation and bring it under some sort of control. Hence, even if this new situation
does not impinge very directly on their own daily lives, they may become deeply
involved with the new developments in cosmology and ritual, and may even take the
lead in formulating such developments. Amongst the adherents of the new-style
cosmology, then, we shall find not only a great many people obviously committed
to a ' modern' life, but also a handful who are drawn from the heart of the pre-
modern world. We may even find the moderns being led by the pre-moderns.
Any reader who looks carefully at our thought-experiment will notice one rather
striking thing about it; although it deliberately omits all reference to Islam and
Christianity, the cosmological and ritual changes which it describes are those more
usually attributed to the efforts of emissaries of the two world religions. The obvious
inference is that acceptance of Islam and Christianity is due as much to development
of the traditional cosmology in response to other features of the modern situation as
it is to the activities of the missionaries.
Io4 AFRICAN CONVERSION
Equally worth noting is the fact that, whilst the changes described are
such as the missionaries would be happy to claim as the fruits of their o
there are both additions and omissions with which they would be less th
But if we look at the actual story of Islam and Christianity in Africa, we see th
one of highly conditional and selective acceptance. Indeed, it is marked by
same additions and omissions as we find in the results of our thought-exp
It would appear, then, that the beliefs and practices of the so-called world
are only accepted where they happen to coincide with responses of the t
cosmology to other, non-missionary, factors of the modern situation. W
beliefs and practices have no counterpart in these responses, they tend to
developed or absent from the life of 'converts '. Again, where respon
traditional cosmology to other factors of the modern situation have no cou
in the beliefs and practices of the world religions, they tend to appear as emba
additions to the life of' converts '.
Such a conclusion reduces Islam and Christianity to the role of catalysts-i.e.
stimulators and accelerators of changes which were' in the air' anyway; triggers for
reactions in which they do not always appear amongst the end-products. But although
it sounds extreme and does in fact contain an element of caricature, it nevertheless
provides us with a theory that accounts very effectively for the failures as well as for
the successes of the two world religions.
First of all, it explains why both Islam and Christianity, operating by themselves,
produce very meagre results. At the same time, it explains the dramatic improvements
that occur as soon as other features of the modern situation are added to the mix.
Secondly, it shows why African populations reject what Peel calls the 'other-
worldliness' of modern Western Christianity-or what I would prefer to call its
renunciation of the functions of explanation, prediction, and control. At the same
time, it shows why these populations accept from both world religions their tendency
toward monolatry, their emphasis on a morally concerned supreme being, and their
unfamiliar cultic forms.
Thirdly, it explains why so-called converts to the world religions form a con-
tinuum, ranging from the man whose ritual approaches to the supreme being in
mosque or church are just an occasional extra in religious life largely taken up with
the cult of the lesser spirits, through the man for whom the cult of the supreme being
and the cult of the spirits are of about equal importance, to the man whose approaches
to the supreme being take up the whole of his religious life. Further, it enables us,
having reckoned the degree of an individual's involvement in the life of the macro-
cosm, to predict his position on this continuum. It also enables us to account for the
small but very significant minority whose religious life does not respond to such a
calculus-the philosophers of the traditional religion who so often turn up as pro-
phetic leaders of the modernizing majority.
Fourthly, the theory enables us to understand the rather different institutional
I That this phenomenon is not confined to Yoru- come from a family that played a special role in
baland is confirmed by my own (as yet unpublished) relation to one of the traditional cults. Again, it
work on Kalabari Christianity. Thus Garrick Braide, is generally believed, and is often the case, that
leader of the first Aladura-type church in the Niger prophets of the Aladura-type churches are people
Delta (and possibly in Nigeria), was a man with little who started their lives as seers or possession media
or no pretension to education, often said to have in the traditional cults.
histories of Islam and Christianity in Africa. As I have said, it casts the world
in the role of catalysts; and it seems to me that the fates of these religions
tional bodies are very much determined by the extent of their willingnes
this role.
During the more recent part of its African career, Islam seems to have b
content with its catalytic role. It has been tolerant in allowing the individu
his own particular selection from official doctrines. It has accepted that t
come to the mosque form a continuum rather than a band of total conver
does not nag excessively at those who lie towards the pagan end of the c
Added to all this, it has never itself renounced a concern with the explan
diction, and control of space-time events. Hence it has been able to contai
discomfort the bearers of the range of beliefs portrayed in our thought-ex
and to expand without throwing off a shower of doctrinally dissenting
sects.
Missionary Christianity, on the other hand, has never been content

catalyst. It has been rigid in its insistence on the individual's total ac
official doctrines. In particular, having renounced the functions of exp
diction, and control, it does not tolerate seers and faith-healers within
is equally severe with their followers. Hence the orthodox churches fin
continually discomfited by a great many of their adherents; and the la
feel great discomfort within the walls of the churches. The result is the
of dissenting breakaway sects that Peel and others have described so vi
A final problem on which the general approach advocated here seem
some light is that posed by the attitude of Aladura-type believers, bot
land and elsewhere, to Western cosmological doctrines. On the face of it
is paradoxical. Thus, on the one hand, the Aladuras have thrashed out t
often after much painful heart-searching, in response to radical change
local experience of the world; and having come through this ordeal, t
sciously and proudly ' doing their own African thing '. Yet, on the oth
have a tremendous appetite for certain kinds of Western cosmological
testimony. They keenly seek confirmation of their beliefs, not only from
of the Western faith-healing sects, but also from those of the Rosicr
Spiritualists, the Theosophists, and other such followers of Western oc
listen avidly to accounts by ' been-tos ' which stress the vital part play
healing and occultism in the life of Western countries. And they flock
strations of occult powers given by gentlemen who commonly refer t
as 'London Trained Professor '.2
Attribution of this interest in Western cosmologies to missionary influence is not
very helpful, since some of the most sought-after texts (the occultist) are thoroughly
disapproved of by the emissaries of Western Christianity in Africa. Attribution of
the interest to the prestige of Western ideas generally is just as unhelpful, precisely
I For good general accounts of these aspects of H. W. Turner, op. cit., vol. ii, 1967, pp. 122, 157,
'conversion ' to Islam in Africa, see: Trimingham, 280, 358, 371. For a similar addiction in Ghana, see
1959, esp. chapters 2, 3, 5; and I968, esp. chapters Field, op. cit., I960, pp. 40-2. In my own field
2, 3, 4. work on Kalabari Christianity, I have found this
2 For addiction to occultism among Yoruba of addiction to be pron
moderate education, see Peel, op. cit., p. 142; Aladura-type churches.
io6 AFRICAN CONVERSION
because it is a highly selective interest. More fruitful, I think, is a conti

the approach which sees recent developments in African belief and ritual
of the traditional cosmology to the successive interpretative challenges
modern social change.
The typical traditional cosmology, under the catalytic influence of
Christianity, has made a vigorous response to the challenge posed by the
of microcosmic boundaries. Having successfully met this first interpretative c
however, it is immediately confronted with a second challenge from w
previously immune-the challenge of a Western view of the world b
impersonal theoretical idiom. The selective enthusiasm of its adherents f
cosmological doctrines can be seen as a way of meeting this second chal
The adherent of a traditional cosmology is seldom confronted with an
various impersonal theoretical systems which commonly fall under the
' Western Materialism '. And even when he is so confronted, he has very l
to be disturbed. From his point of view, the foreign exponent of such
merely saying that the forces at work in the Euro-American microcosm
different from the forces at work in, say, a Yoruba microcosm; a proposi
his existing beliefs would in any case incline him to accept. If anything of
could trouble the adherent of a traditional cosmology, it might be the
assumption that there was no such person as a supreme being. For here, b
would be talking about a single macrocosm, and would be disputing the na
forces underpinning it. For the traditionalist, however, even this sort o
would have limited significance, since the forces underpinning the macro
a relatively minor part in his total scheme of thought. All this makes the trad
more or less impervious to the challenge of materialism.
The adherent of the developed, ' Aladura ' type of cosmology, on the ot
has no such immunity. In the first place, because of improved internati
munication, he experiences many more confrontations with Western M
than does his traditionalist counterpart. In the second place, because the
being and the macrocosm are central rather than peripheral to his c
materialist accounts of the impersonal forces underpinning the macrocosm
the very core of his beliefs.
At this point, we can begin to see why the Aladura believer has such a
seek confirmation, not only from the writings of the Western faith-hea
but also from those of the occultists. For both of these sources, contrad
materialists, assert that the core of the Western world-view is a theoretic
the macrocosm based onpersonal forces; and both present a theoretical sch
is concerned with the explanation, prediction, and control of space-time e
Aladuras, occultism is in some ways even more fascinating than Western faith
One reason is that it deals in a very satisfying way with the question of m
branding it as a superficial and peripheral phenomenon, a facade behind w
real leaders of Western thought operate with a personal model of the wor
working, a screen which conceals the precious inner truth from vulgar eye
reason is that it deals elaborately with lesser spirits, which still feature pr
in many of the developed African cosmologies-even if only as evil being
man has to fight with the aid of God. A third reason is that many occult
AFRICAN CONVERSION 1o7
have a strong preoccupation with the magical and creative power o

preoccupation which remains central to most Aladura belief-systems.
Since a great many adherents of Aladura-type cosmologies now p
visits to Western countries, and since faith-healing and occultist sect
marginal to present-day Western life, we may well wonder why return
visits seem strengthened rather than disillusioned in their conviction th
of these sects represent the core of Western cosmology. One answer ma
various reasons, such visitors gravitate to those limited sectors of We
for whom faith-healing and occultism have particular importance. An
is that, like Western anthropologists visiting Africa, they simply tend
marginal for the central and vice versa, through insufficient awarenes
Yet another answer is that they are heirs to an ancient tradition which
of belief and rite, sees openness as the sign of marginality and secrecy
centrality. Hence the seedy furtiveness and the atmosphere of conspi
surround the world of the occult in a city like London appear to them
this world represents, not some dilapidated side-alley of Western tho
very core. For all these reasons, they are apt to return to Africa confi
beliefs with which they left its shores.
All peoples are shaken and discomfited when confronted with the bea
belief-systems. In the past, Muslims and Christians from north of the
to rid themselves of the discomfort caused them by the bearers of African
through Jihads and frenzied missionary activities. Today, though of n
have to go about things more subtly, foreign bearers of the two wor
are still at the task of attempting to eliminate these disquieting cosm
Aladuras are equally discomfited by their confrontation with Western
but, being in no position to mount Jihads or missionary campaigns in
they have to adopt a different strategy for ridding themselves of their
By seizing eagerly on faith-healing, spiritualism, rosicrucianism, theosophy
varieties of occultism as signs that Westerners 'really' adhere to t
beliefs as themselves, they manage to persuade themselves that there is
tion and hence no threat.
At this point, I think, the traditional African cosmology reaches the
potential for expansion and development. As I have argued in common
other sociologists, the advent of modern industrial society must sooner
for depersonalization of the idiom of all theory. In Africa, as in the W
likely that religion, if it survives, will do so as a way of communion,
system of explanation, prediction, and control.
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BAETA, C. G. I961. Prophetism in Ghana. London.

BALANDIER, G. 1955. Sociologie actuelle de I'Afrique Noire. Paris.
BARRY, F. R. 1969. Secular and Supernatural. London.
BEArrIE, J. 1964. Other Cultures. London.
9- 66. 'Ritual and Social Change', Man (N.s.), i. i.
EVANS-PRITCHARD, E. E. 1956. Nuer Religion. Oxford.
FIELD, M. J. I960. Search for Security. London.
GOODY, J. 1963. ' The Consequences of Literacy ', Comparative Studies in Society and History,
HOLAS, B. 1954. ' Brefaperpu sur les principaux cultes syncretiques de la basse Cote d'Ivoire '
o08 AFRICAN CONVERSION
HORTON, R. 1960. ' A Definition of Religion and its Uses ', Journal of the Royal Anthropological
part 2.
- 962a. ' The Kalabari World-View: an Outline and Interpretation', Africa, xxxii. 3.
962b. ' The High God in West Africa: a Reply to Father O'Connell ', Man, September.
967. 'African Traditional Thought and Western Science', Africa, xxxvii. I and a.
I970. ' A Hundred Years of Change in Kalabari Religion ', in J. Middleton (ed.) Black Africa. New
York.
JARVIE, I. I964. The Revolution in Anthropology. London.
-and AGASSI, J. 1967. ' The Rationality of Magic ', British Journal of Sociology, xviii. I.
LEE, R. S. 1967. Freud and Christianity. London.
LIENHARDT, G. 1961. Divinity and Experience: the Religion of the Dinka. London.
LUKES, S. 1967. ' Some Problems about Rationality ', European Journal of Sociology, viii.
MIDDLETON, J. 1960. Lugbara Religion. London.
MORTON-WILLIAMS, P. I956. 'The Atinga Cult among the South-Western Yoruba', Bulletin de l'IFAN,
xviii.
- 960. ' The Yoruba Ogboni Cult in Oyo ', Africa, xxx. 4.
964. ' An Outline of the Cosmology and Cult Organization of the Oyo Yoruba ', Ibid. xxxiv. 3.
MORTON-WILLIAMS, P., and WESCOTT, J. i962. 'The Symbolism and Ritual Context of the Yoruba Laba
Shango ', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, xcii.
MURRAY, R. 1967. Limba Stories. Oxford.
PAUW, B. A. 1960. Religion in a Tswana Chiefdom. London.
PEEL, J. D. Y. 1968a. Aladura: a Religious Movement among the Yoruba. London.
- 1968b. ' Syncretism and Religious Change ', Comparative Studies in Society and History, x.
SUNDKLER, B. 1961. Bantu Prophets in South Africa. London.
TRIMINGHAM, J. S. 1959. Islam in West Africa. Oxford.
-- 968. The Influence of Islam upon Africa. London.
TURNER, H. W. 1963. ' African Prophet Movements ', Hibber Joutrnal, xli.
- 1967. African Independent Church. Oxford. 2 vols.
TURNER, V. W. I967. The Forest of Symbols. Ithaca.
1968. The Drums of Affliction. Oxford.
VERGER, P. I966. 'The Yoruba High God', Odiu, ii. 2.
WEBSTER, J. B. 1964. The African Churches among the Yoruba 1891-1922. London.
Le restume franfais de cet article sera publie dans Ie prochain numiro d'Africa
A. MOELLER DE LADDERSOUS
As this number of Africa was in the press the Institute

regret of the death on 20 January I971 of Vice-Gouve
Moeller de Laddersous, who had been closely connect
since the forties and was Chairman of its Executive Cou
1967. An appreciation of his career and his services to th
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VOLUME XLI APRIL 1971 NUMBER 2

of the resulting churches became as large and important as their paren

of such a church, however, tended to remain rudimentary. The prophet

human means of self-help as medicines. In

many other, less formal, channels of communication and persuasion. I

I H. W. Turner, 1967. 3 See for instance: Jarvie, 1964; Jarvie and

of Christian missionaries upon the adherents of such religions, we m

Because this brief sketch shows the traditional cosmology working in

being practised in the pre-change situation. It becomes more obvious when th

Missionary Christianity, on the other hand, has never been content

because it is a highly selective interest. More fruitful, I think, is a conti

have a strong preoccupation with the magical and creative power o

BAETA, C. G. I961. Prophetism in Ghana. London.

As this number of Africa was in the press the Institute

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