Department: Religions, History and Heritage Studies
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1
RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE IN YORUBALAND AND THE IMPLICATIONS OF TROELTSCH’S ADVOCATE FOR MANY RELIGIONS
Abstract
This paper focuses on the contextualization of religious experience viewed beyond mystic perspective, especially in Yoruba worldview. 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) by John Hick, 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 assumed that God is sovereign and self-proving. Hence, if no religion can claim exclusivism, none should then debased 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 Yorubaland 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 development in the region.
Key words: Religious Experience, Yorubaland, Hybridization, Relativism
