The dynamics of any society are deeply shaped by its beliefs about who God is and how he may be accessed. In Africa, African Traditional Religions (ATR) provide a framework for understanding evil and suffering, but one that ultimately falls short of the truth. Cosmologically, ATR depicts God as a far-removed Creator outside his created realm. This distance necessitates mediators—tribal gods, ancestral spirits, chiefs, priests, and diviners—who allow common people to experience or benefit from supernatural blessings. My argument in this article is that this system hinges on the underlying axiological assumption or value system of hierarchy.
ATR depicts God as a far-removed Creator.
The ATR pyramid of power, with its restriction of knowledge and access, profoundly influences how Africans think about evil and suffering. The question is urgent: how does this worldview compare to the biblical one? And what does scripture offer that ATR cannot?
God in ATR: Known but Distant
No human culture can claim ignorance of God. As Paul says in Romans 1:19-21, God has revealed himself in nature and conscience, leaving all without excuse. African cultures are no exception. Ontologically, God is acknowledged in ATR as spiritual and supreme, Creator of all, sovereign, omniscient, omnipresent, incomprehensible. However, at the same time, God is distant.
No human culture can claim ignorance of God.
This knowledge of God, derived from general revelation, is real but insufficient. Sin corrupts human understanding and directs worship away from the one true God. As a result, ATR reflects man’s idolatrous pursuit of God apart from his Word. The African sense of God, while genuine, remains tragically misguided and gives way to a hierarchical system composed of intermediaries between God and man.
The Hierarchies of Power
ATR structures life through a strict hierarchy. At the top is the distant Creator, followed by spirits, ancestors, chiefs, and other mediators, all the way down to the ordinary people. Access to blessings or protection requires navigating this pyramid.
Access to blessings or protection requires navigating this pyramid.
This hierarchy is not based on divine revelation but reflects societal structures of authority. Chiefs, for example, often claim direct access to God and elevate themselves above others by virtue of lineage or power. Honour is determined by birth, long life, or accumulated influence. Those at the top exercise control, while those at the bottom remain vulnerable, always seeking favour from superiors. The people higher up in the hierarchy possess some knowledge which they hide from the public to maintain their status and influence.
Knowledge as Power
Knowledge in ATR is power. The more knowledge one has, the higher one climbs in the pyramid. Those at the top guard knowledge carefully, since secrecy ensures control. The less people know about the origin of power, or the rituals required to maintain it, the easier it is for leaders to exercise influence unchallenged. The ones in position of power strive also to ensure influence beyond their lifetime which leads to the idea of ancestors.
Life and Afterlife
The hierarchy, therefore, extends beyond death. Without a cosmic eschatology, becoming an ancestor is everything in ATR. The ultimate goal is to become a revered ancestor. Failure to acquire life power, however, risks becoming a malevolent spirit. Thus rituals at funerals and other life events, which bestow life power, are never neglected, otherwise misfortune is feared if the departed are forgotten. People are thus kept in fear and under control.
The Inconsistencies of ATR
Belief in a God who is supreme yet uninvolved in daily life is scandalous. If he is Creator and source of all things, he is thereby responsible for his creation’s well-being. To portray him as detached is to accuse him of immorality. Even more troubling, good and evil are hopelessly blended in ATR’s hierarchy. Chiefs, ancestors, and diviners may heal or harm at will. Sorcerers can bless and curse. This confusion of light and darkness contradicts scripture’s clarity: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20).
Belief in a God who is supreme yet uninvolved in daily life is scandalous.
By contrast, the God of the Bible is holy, trustworthy, and sovereign. God cannot lie (Titus 1:2). He is the Father of lights, the giver of every good gift (James 1:17). He governs all things in conformity with his will (Ephesians 1:11). In him, good and evil never mingle; he hates evil and opposes it utterly.
A Biblical Response to Evil and Suffering
God’s Nearness and Mercy
Unlike ATR’s distant deity, the biblical God is both transcendent and immanent. He reveals himself through his word and in his Son. Far from leaving humanity at the mercy of lesser beings, he himself seeks his people, even in their rebellion (Romans 5:8).
Evil Is Not Neutral
In ATR, man is seen as morally neutral. His actions and rituals decide his destiny. But the Bible teaches total depravity. All have sinned and are by nature rebels against God (Romans 3:10-18). Evil is not a tool to be managed but a deadly corruption God must defeat.
Christ’s Victory Over Evil
ATR explains suffering and evil through curses, sorcery, or broken taboos. Protection is sought from higher powers—finding a stronger sorcerer, performing rituals, or hiding one’s life in a tree or rock. But the Bible proclaims that Christ has already triumphed over Satan and his powers at the cross (Colossians 2:15). Thus believers are secure because their lives are hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). The armour of God equips Christians for every battle (Ephesians 6:10–18).
Suffering with Hope
In ATR, suffering produces endless fear. But in the biblical worldview, suffering is under God’s sovereign hand. It refines, sanctifies, and draws believers to deeper trust. Like Job, we may not understand why suffering comes. But we can trust God’s wisdom. To fully “understand” evil, as Henri Blocher notes, would be to deny its evilness.
The Cross: God’s Answer to Evil
The greatest flaw in ATR is its embrace of evil as a usable force. People seek to overcome evil with more evil, perpetuating cycles of fear and oppression. But the gospel announces the opposite: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). At the cross, God’s wrath against sin fell upon his own Son. There, evil was exposed, judged, and conquered. Christ’s sacrificial death and victorious resurrection show that evil cannot be managed by rituals or reversed by sorcerers. It can only be destroyed by God himself.
Christ: Our Only Sure Refuge
ATR is not merely cultural expression; it is a worldview that distorts God’s nature and enslaves people in fear. Its partial truths—recognising God’s supremacy—are corrupted by sin and misdirected into idolatry. By contrast, the biblical worldview reveals a God who is both supreme and near, who opposes evil absolutely, and who conquers it in Christ. In him, believers find security, freedom from fear, and hope in suffering. The call is urgent: abandon ATR’s dark hierarchy and turn to the true and living God revealed in Christ. Only in him is evil rightly understood, suffering redeemed, and eternal life secured.
