God of Our Fathers in Yoruba Before the Advent Christian Missionaries

Abstract

It is a known fact that, till date, the discriminatory attitude of the Whites and African religionists on the relationship between God and African in general and the Yoruba in particular persists. The notion that Africans (the Yoruba inclusive) have no idea of God persists in some minds. To such people, Africa, "the dark continent", could not have an idea of God. The introduction of foreign religions (Christianity and Islam) has further relegated the African ideas about God to the background. The paper critically examines the notion that Africans, in general, have no idea about God using the Yoruba of Southwestern Nigeria as its focus. The objective is to clarify further the erroneous notions about the African idea about God using the Yoruba as a reference. The aim is to establish that God in the African context is not different from God in the European context. The paper concludes that discriminating against a race or nation is tantamount to prejudice and cannot bring meaningful development to any society.