Page 285 - Volume 2_CHANGES_merged_with links

Obstacles to progress

Distortions

“ Christians in Africa and Latin America tend to pray more frequently, attend religious
services more regularly and consider religion more important in their lives than

Christians elsewhere in the world, according to a recent Pew Research Center study.
***
For instance, at least four out of five Christians in Nigeria, Liberia, Senegal, Cameroon
and Chad pray every day.

***
Similarly, in every African country surveyed, more than 60% of Christians say they attend

church at least weekly “
"World's Most Committed Christians Live in Africa, Latin America, U.S." 342
Pew Research Center
*****

“ And just two countries – the former Soviet republic of Georgia and the West African
country of Ghana – have younger adults who are, on average, more religious than their
elders.

***
On the other hand, in sub-Saharan Africa, where overall levels of religious commitment
are among the highest in the world, there is no significant difference between older and

younger adults in terms of the importance of religion in 17 out of 21 countries surveyed.”
"The Age Gap in Religion Around the World." 343
Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project

*****

“ In the religions of Africa, life does not end with death, but continues in another realm.
The concepts of "life" and "death" are not mutually exclusive concepts, and there are no

clear dividing lines between them. Human existence is a dynamic process involving the
increase or decrease of "power" or "life force," of "living" and "dying," and there are

different levels of life and death. Many African languages express the fact that things are
not going well, such as when there is sickness, in the words "we are living a little,"
meaning that the level of life is very low.”

"African Religions - Rituals, World, Burial, Body, Funeral, Life, Customs, Beliefs, Time." 344
Encyclopedia of Death and Dying

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“ We have stressed in this chapter that many Africans flock into the AICs [African
Indigenous Churches] because of a number of reasons, which include: