In a previous article at TGC Africa I attempted to show that one of the demands Christianity makes to Africans is for them to shift their dependence from spirits and ancestors to God alone. In this current series of articles I’ve argued that this demand is the gracious invitation from a personal God. We’ve seen the Father sent the Son, making it possible for us to approach him. He gives us the Holy Spirit, so that we can be assured of our adoption and boldly call God “Abba, Father” (Romans 8:15).
We must shift our dependence from the spirits and ancestors to God alone.
Throughout this series, however, I haven’t addressed the involvement of angels and spirits in human affairs, something we clearly observe in the Bible and which is central to many traditional African religions. At various points in the Bible we see God sending an angel or some spirit to carry out his purposes. This raises a critical question: how is that any different from African theologies that claim God has entrusted the affairs of man to mediatory spirits? Is it any different? Isn’t the way Africans relate to God in ATR similar to Christianity, if not exactly the same? This article will set out some of the most significant distinctions between the two.
The Role of Ancestral Spirits in ATR
As John Pobee notes concerning ATR, “As the greatest King, [God] is never to be approached directly but always through his linguists who are the ancestral spirits. God as King has delegated areas of authority and jurisdiction to the ancestors and gods, because as a matter of his dignity, he is not to be bothered with the small and trivial affairs of men.” John Mbiti goes further, claiming that these divinities (or spirits) have been given power by God to influence natural phenomena, such as harvest and rain; other spirits, he adds, stand behind fortune and misfortune, human suffering and even death. In this view, ancestral spirits and divinities are directly involved in most aspects of human life. They’re a little like CEOs, entrusted with the running of a company by the owner.
Africans depend on their ancestors and other spirits for good fortune.
The result of this worldview is that Africans depend on their ancestors and other spirits for good fortune. To attain that good fortune, they must serve the ancestors. This usually includes sacrifices and other offerings. Manganyi and Buitendag write, “It is not only offerings and sacrifices that are directed to spirits and the living dead, but prayers and invocations are also made.” Many Africans, then, offer up prayers and invocations to their ancestors, believing they have the power to change fortunes. Where I grew up, a sangoma (or medium) would serve as a link to the ancestors. But she had little power, comparatively; the ancestors were in charge.
The Role of Spirits in the Bible
As I’ve already noted, it’s not uncommon to see spirits and angels getting involved in human affairs throughout the Bible. However, this is always a direct result or response to God. For in the Bible the one who created all things is also the CEO—so to speak. Angels and spirits function only as servants, sent out for the sake of those who are being saved (Hebrews 1:13-14).
Angels and spirits function only as servants, sent out for the sake of those who are being saved.
Consider Isaiah 36-37. An angel kills thousands of Assyrian invaders, saving Jerusalem. But the angel didn’t act on its own accord; Hezekiah prayed (Isaiah 37:14-35) and God answered (Isaiah 37:36), in part because of Rabshakeh’s blasphemy (Isaiah 36:13-22). The angel could do nothing, apart from God’s providential will and permission. The angel acted as nothing more than a servant, as the writer of the Hebrews says.
Similarly, consider the death of Ahab. A lying spirit had to ask for permission to deceive the king’s prophets; he didn’t act on his own accord (1 Kings 22:19-23). And when the spirit had entered Ahab’s prophets, Micaiah tells us that it was God who put it in them. “The Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for you” (1 Kings 22:23).
Therefore, biblically, God governs the affairs of men directly. Spirits merely carry out his purposes, as he commands them. They have no freedom or power, like the spirits in ATR.
God Is With His People and the Dead Are With Him
Everything is directed to God; not to spirits, angels, or the living dead.
The above section explains why prayers are always directed to God, and not to spirits or angels. Even though God answered the prophet by sending an angel to do his bidding, the prayer is to God (Isaiah 37:15-20). The same is true in 1 King 22:23. The kings consult God and not the spirits. Daniel’s famous visions in Babylon are the same. Even though an angel delivered a message to the exiled prophet, he continued to pray to God. The one time someone consulted a spirit directly was Saul (Samuel 28). This act is closer to the African practices of consulting the ancestors, but God condemned Saul for it.
All of that is consistent with the Mosaic sacrificial system, instituted after the exodus. Everything is directed to God; not to spirits, angels, or the living dead.
Remember, Jesus said that God is the God of the living (Matthew 22:32). Remarkably, this means that God’s faithful people throughout the ages are alive, even though they died; but at the same time they are uninvolved with human life. At the end of his ministry on earth, Jesus promised his disciples, “I am with you always, to the end of the ages” (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5).
Go to God, Not His Servants
To conclude both this article and my larger series, God wants his people to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18); not to fear the spirits and fawn over them. God the Holy Spirit has power to bring about God the Father’s will (Galatians 5:5). Why then would we invoke lesser spirits, angels and the dead?
