A Theological Reflection on African and Jewish Cultural Views on the Afterlife

Abstract

This paper examines the African and Jewish views of the afterlife in their cultural contexts. It attempts to draw notable similarities and contrasts between the two. The African view is assessed from a study of relevant literature on the topic while the Jewish view is collated from an Old Testament Scripture passage. The paper evaluates the African afterlife view from a collation of secondary sources that are relevant to the study. It conveys an introduction section to the African view of the afterlife that encapsulates the role of the ancestors and lesser divinities in the African afterlife view. In the Jewish context, the paper evaluates the afterlife from the study of 1 Samuel 28, a passage that reveals the afterlife strand from the context of Jewish theological thought. Samuel’s spirit was recalled from the afterlife abode and he pronounced God’s judgment on king Saul. The paper concludes with a brief summary capturing the key similarities and contrasts between the two cultural worldviews. This study has established that the afterlife is embraced by both societies even though the cultural spectrums on the activities of the spirits of the dead significantly differ in each context. The African and Jewish afterlife views are significant for a cross-cultural religious study between the two views. A comparative study of the two afterlife views is significant in outlining the influence of traditional Jewish theological thought on African Christianity.