AN EXAMINATION OF THE ENCOUNTER AND INFLUENCE OF CHRISTIANITY ON TIV TRADITIONAL RELIGION AND VALUE SYSTEM

Abstract

A general view of many experts holds that no culture can have intercourse with another and remain same. Once there is an intercultural encounter, each culture adds and or subtracts something from its cultural norms. Christianity as brought to Africa came carrying under its wings the culture of its origin and that of the missionaries that brought it. This work is an assessment of the influence of Christianity on Tiv Traditional Religion and Cultural Values. Using the historical method and built on the Sociological conflict theory of Karl Marx, it explores the socio-religious implications of the influence of Christianity on Tiv traditional religion and cultural values. An African adage maintains that before the discovery of corn, fowls were eating something. In the same manner, before the advent of Christianity in Tivland, the Tiv people had their cultural values well cut out and were living by them. However, Christianity which carried alongside it western civilization came into the Tivland and disrupted the traditional values almost turning the Tiv culture upside down. This rendered the traditional methods of preserving morality ineffective. However, on a positive note, Christianity came with formal education and modern medical services which uplifted the social-economic status of the Tiv people. This study, through its findings unveils the following facts: that most of Tiv people are Christians but like other ethnics groups in Africa still engage in some of their cultural practices such as polygamy, traditional medicine, performances of Akombo (rituals) and Tsav (witchcraft) amidst their practice of Christianity. The research also discovers that Christianity is not totally at variance with the Tiv traditional religion and cultural values; only the modus operandi differs. The work therefore recommends a nuptial union between the Tiv cultural values and the Christian religion in other to bring about a more deeply rooted Christianity in Tivland. The research further opines that Christian leaders in Tivland be properly educated on the core cultural values of the Tiv people and how they can even enhance the propagation of the Christian faith if well tapped into.