Department: Religions, History and Heritage Studies
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Religious Experience Among The Yoruba in South-Western Nigeria and the Implications of Troeltsch's Advocacy for Many Religions. (2020)
This paper focuses on the contextualization of religious experience viewed beyond mystic perspective, especially in Yoruba worldview, south-west of Nigeria. It attempts to bring out to the fore, the 'real' essence of religion and classified it as something that is beyond explanation. From philosophical view point, God (understood as the Ultimate Reality), is singled out as the converging point of many if not most of the living religions. Hence, using Yoruba land as our case study, where there is unified culture and language but with different religious tenets having none in the minority; this paper extrapolates Troeltsch's concept of relativism, holding on to his idea of advocating for many religions, since all have a particular experience that give them 'form' and expression. Our presupposition in the overall is based on the fact that it is granted that God is sovereign and self-proving. Hence, if no religion can claim exclusivism, none should then debase the others. But if all religions claim the knowledge of God, then God is infinite and self-sustaining and upholder of all religions? This work therefore, engaged experiential knowledge method in data gathering in addition with relying on secondary sources. Our findings indicate that religious experience is congruent in Yoruba land because of the household system that is based on inter and intra-relationship. This, in the long-run can help in enshrining a 'hybridization' of religion which can be intrinsic in fostering peace and sociocultural development in the region.
Key words: Religious experience, Yoruba land, Troeltsch, Many Religions, Hybridization.
