Trends in the religious beliefs of the Igbomina since the twentieth century

Abstract

Religion has always been an integral part of every human society. However, one of two things has happened to man‟s religion in any given situation: modification with adaptation or extinction. The first may be said to have been the fate of religion throughout the world, of any religion. There is no living religion that has not taken into itself elements from other religious cultures. This study examines trends in the religious beliefs among the Igbomina people over the years. Acknowledging the indispensability of religion like in any other human society as well as the God-factor phenomenon in all their multifarious activities, their traditional religious beliefs include: the existence of Supreme Deity associated with incomparable attributes; intermediaries; spirit world comprising of innumerable forces of both goodness and evil; moral order and the transient nature of the mundane world. Much later came Islam and Christianity, respectively, with "new" beliefs and teachings. However, findings reveal that the identified traditional religious beliefs (though with noticeable differences especially in the mode of worship) can still be centrally established in the tenets of the alien religions. Furthermore, even though religious tenets are dogmatic and social institutions such as family, religious associations, etc. are divine institutions in accordance with the natural order; change is forcing itself on societies and religious bodies as congregation after congregation today struggles with the problems caused by new world with trending patterns of life. Hence, human institutions –social, religious and cultural have changed over time and their future forms are not known with any certainty. The paper adopts a historical and phenomenological approach with a combination of primary and secondary sources of data collection. The study concludes that critical examination of trends in the religious beliefs among the Igbomina generally reveal liberalism, syncretism, and consequently, the degree of change in each Igbomina community tends to depend on the kind of external pressure(s) to which it has been subjected as well as on the extent to which it is prepared to accommodate or embrace new ways.

Keywords: Religious Belief, Igbomina, Shrine, Supreme Deity, God-factor