Without a shadow of a doubt, the term “Western Religions” is a gross misnomer. The racial undertones are spot-on. Both “Western Religions” and “Greek Philosophy” have indigenous African roots, and the current indigenous African population and their descendants in the Caribean, the Americas, Europe, and elsewhere are the inheritors of these roots.
Many of today’s most prominent faiths have their roots in ancient African spiritual practices. There is nothing new under the sun, as will be evident from a study of the origins and defining features of the world’s major religions. Indigenous spiritual practices known variously as Odinani, Ifa, Voodoo, Witchcraft, Black Magic, and other names predated the major Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Over the course of his entire life, renowned academic, author, and speaker Dr. Ben-Jochannan spent more than half his time highlighting the global contributions of Africans. The spiritual practices and ideas that eventually became the world’s major religions were one of Africa’s most dynamic contributions to the world at large.
According to Dr. Ben’s seminal book African Origins of the Major Western Religions:
Africans (also known as “Negroes,” “Bantus,” “Pygmies,” “Hottentots,” “Bushmen,” “Niggers,” and a host of other such degrading terminologies) and their descendants are “too often ignored, and in too many cases, completely denied” in the field of religion.
He continues, “If what has been said so far could become common knowledge, the general public would have no difficulty recognizing that much of what they read in their Torah (Jewish Holy Book or Five Books of Moses), Christian Holy Bible (any version — Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Christian Scientist), and Moslem (Muslim) Koran or Quran, would be conceded to be of African origin, as well as Asian, and adopted later by Europeans and European-Americans before th As long as racism is used as a foundation for teaching about these faiths, it will be masked as “authorship” by those who did the least to start them but the most to continue them as their own exclusive domain, which is to say, white people.
I will briefly summarize a few more points of his compelling case that the major Western religions have African roots:
Almost all “traditionally indigenous African religions” believe in a spiritual realm that existed before the arrival of Europeans and Caucasians to their homelands.
Most traditional indigenous African religions include the idea of “good” and “evil” spirits, ancestors, and omens. ‘Western religions’ offer explanations for this occurrence by referring to supernatural beings like ‘angels’ or ‘demons.
The biblical Moses was, as is generally agreed upon, an African native.
Traditional indigenous “religions” still use sacrificial drinking (libations) as a part of rituals and ceremonies. Wine is used in both the Christian Holy Communion and the Jewish Sabbath meal.
The black church incorporates a lot of voodoo practices. An unconscious reflex to spiritual stimulation through chants, distinct tones, harmonies, and rhythms persists even among those whose minds have been de-culturalized by European colonizers (music).
The Book of the Dead’s 125th chapter, “Negative Confessions,” is where the Ten Commandments were first recorded.
Many gods, including Osiris, were worshiped as the “one true god” before Christianity was even founded, thousands of years before the time of Osiris.
The Bible’s book of proverbs was not written by Solomon but rather is a compilation of the teachings of the Egyptian king Amen-em-ope, in the form of poetry and song.
In other words, Dr. Ben claims that the spiritual foundations of the Abrahamic faiths—Christianity, Judaism, and Islam—can be traced back to the indigenous peoples of Africa. African indigenous thought has historically been attuned to the full range or equilibrium of the physical/spiritual connection between humans.
When “new” religions were imposed on indigenous people, much of their ancient knowledge was lost. Displaced by ideologies that rationalize the enslavement of indigenous peoples and promote servitude to those who are undeserving. Instead of connecting and empowering people, as the original science had intended to do, the ancient spiritual practices and understandings of indigenous minds were transformed into a tool to do just the opposite.
