Impact Of Christianity On The Cultural Values

The role of religion particularly the Christian religion in the development process of a society has continued to be a subject of study. Some people think that religion contribute positively to the well-being of the society, while others think it has negative effects. In Esanland, some people that are knowledgeable in the culture of Esan see religion as "Opium of the people", this simply means that the Christian religion has negative influence on the development and cultural values of Esan people. This study aim at the impact of Christianity and western culture on the cultural values of Esan people. Particular attention was given to Eguare and Emaudo-Ekpoma, both in Esan West Local Government Area. It also shows that the traditional Esan society was a well ordered society, with a viable social structure, social institutions and cultural values before the advent of Christian religion and western culture. Historical-analytic method was adopted for the study. Two Hundred respondents were randomly selected within the Local Government Area for the study. Data for the study were collated through the use of self-developed questionnaires. The study also adopted the theoretical framework of Prudential Personalist Ethics theory of Benedict Ashley who was a 20th Century American theologian and philosopher. The result of the study showed that the impact of Christianity and western culture on the Esan people were both positive and negative. It is recommended that the Christian witnesses and missionaries should establish relationships of respect and love with those men (to whom they witness), they should acknowledge themselves as members of the group in which they live, and through the various undertakings and affairs of human life, they should share in their social and cultural life. The study concluded, that long before the advent of Christianity into Esan land, the traditional society has already been structured to reflect socio-cultural status. There were such socio institutions that serve the purposes of Integration and sustenance. Such institutions also promoted the well-being of the society.

5.1. Evaluation

Elizabeth Wilkins was right when she said "social structure is not static although the actual form which it takes may remain constant over a very lengthy period and any changes which takes place within its framework will only have a very gradual effect on the structure itself" (43). This is very true of the Esan society. The simple social structure with the village council at its apex and the lineage and family down the ladder have given away to a highly stratified society today. Yet, it has maintained its form.The simple subsistent farming population of the Esan have since grown beyond that stage. Elame Service describes traditional societies such as the Esan. According to him, "the economic division of labor is by age and sex, the family is the productive unit Egalitarian relations between segments are fostered by the reciprocal exchanges of goods as gifts" (4). As we have seen, the coming of Christianity and its civilizing influence has brought about certain changes. Education has created means of social mobility at least in 3 ways; upwardly, generationally as well as career-wise. Those who have been moved upwardly have moved from lower to upper classes. Generationally speaking, peoples achievements can now be measured in comparism with their parents and great differences are noticed. There are also those who as a result of their career have had to move up or down in the course of the years.

On the whole, the Christian religion has had tremendous positive influence on the culture of Esan. There has been changes in the traditions and customs of the people. For instance, the Arebhoa or Arewa custom has since been abandoned. Christian teaching on the biblical views about marriage and the civilization and education that came with Christianity has enlightened the women to reject such debased treatments that reduced them to the statue of harlots. The observance of traditional sacred days have since been discovered to be not only a religious disaster but also an economic waste. Many man-labors are lost on those days as people are restricted from doing any labor. There is thus a reduction in production and sources of income.

Sacred places, objects and shrines that were awe-inspiring have been discovered to be empty. They are now understood to be only symbols. The substance reality deserves more respect and honor. So, many people have turned the regard they used to have for those things to the most High God. Also, there has been flexibility as against rigid position in the worship of deities and traditional shrines as was maintained in the past. For example, worship of deities and traditional shrines were by compulsion or coercion but that is no longer the case for Esan people as worship of these deities is now as of choice.

The rate of diseases and death have been greatly reduced because of the presence of medical facilities. Traditional medicine men have lost most of their customers to the church and orthodox medicine. Sickness and diseases have been seen from their proper perspective. Indeed, the Christian religion has socialized the Esan society.

It should be noted that the mission of Christianity is primarily spiritual, aimed at changing men and not structures. Christianity is not expected to accomplish its task through politics or violence. That is why those who think that Christianity has not done much for Esan in terms of infrastructures, should re-examine their position. Melvin Hodges compared the situation in the Roman Empire at the inception of Christianity to any culture where it goes. He said, "certainly, the Roman empire with the dictatorship of the Caesars" presented a sad picture of political and social oppression. Slavery was everywhere. Yet both Paul and Peter urged obedience to the governmental powers (Romans 13:1-7;1Peter 2:13-15)"(87). When the lives of people are influenced and changed there will definitely be changes in the society. That is also true of Esan as we have noted earlier. Christianity has changed people and so there are changes in the society for the better.

In as much as we recognize and appreciate the tremendous positive impact the coming of Christianity has had on the Esan cultural value, it must be noted that there are also areas of short comings or negative impact.Every religion without exceptions, is the product of a particular culture. It is therefore unfair to impose a culture on others in the name of religion. That was what the early Christian missionaries did in Esan. They failed to appreciate the values of the Esan culture. In their zeal to convert the people from their traditional religion and customs they disdained all their practices. Adrian Hastings admits frankly that Europeans in general and European missionaries in particular ""admitted little of any culture of value in Africa, just as many had denied that it really had any religion... other than fearful superstitions"" (37). Oliver Onwubiko agreed in this regard when he said;""Some results of this negative approach were the retardation of the development of god African culture on is total elimination, the undermining of parental authority, the weakening of traditional sanctions and the creation of divisions within the African society"" (215). What Onwubiko said about African culture is particularly true of the Esan culture under review. One has to be in the society to appreciate how some cultural values have been recklessly abandoned. Some of the things that would not be accepted in the traditional society have become things winked at. For instance, unchastity that attracted serious sanctions and penalties have been tolerated because of the seeming liberty given by modern civilization and enlightenment.

In the traditional Esan society there was nothing like an individual"s consciousness of his distinct personality from those of the other members of the community. Each individual cherished and lived the life-in-community. In that direction, Levy-Bruhl"s observation aptly applied. ""For the man of even the most primitive societies, maintenance of his own being, the original and immediate expression of his need to live , includes safeguarding the existence of the social organisms to which the individual belongs in the full sense of that term: he feels that his own being persists only if the social organism resists destruction. His own continuance is neither separable nor distinguishable from that of the social organism"" (qtd. in Acquaviva86).

This has become a thing of the past. Individualism has taken over the communal attachment of people. The best one can find today in our (sense of) communalism is a limitation to one"s family or village. This is why people are now more personal and selfish. The advent of Christianity enhanced the sense of communalism to some extent. People were taught to love one another, particularly those of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10). This is followed by the Christian teaching of ""come out from among them and be ye separate"" (2 Corinthians 6:17) which call for segregation. Those who become Christians therefore began to keep away from ""unbelievers"". They slung only to those of the household of faith, Christian religion then, brought an unintended result of what one could call segregated communalism, more than that, it promoted a sense of individualism. The cultural value of life in which the community comprehend the individuals, support and surrounds him with a cocoon of relationships from the living to the ancestors was therefore significantly affected.

Respect for elders and constituted authority has been an important value among the Esan people. However, with the coming of Christian religion with its western culture, this value has made Esan society seriously lose this value in the name of rights and freedom which allows young people to do anything they like without regard for the aged rather have more regards and respect for social age (the affluence or the wealthy people), that is anyone who is able to attain any status either by education or achievements is highly respected as earlier noted above. Some of the traditional method of greeting have almost disappeared. It is a common sight now that young people address their elders by their very name. All of these are due to the influence of the western culture and the education that it brought thereby disrupting the Esan value of respect for elders and constituted authority.

Some of the traditional music of the Esan people which were cherished and talked about some historical events of the people were relegated to the background and as such were forgotten and lost as a result of Christianity. This was so because the missionaries infused their own music and selected the music of the Esan people which they felt were appropriate and right as against those historical music of the Esan people. In so doing, some historical events of the Esan people have been forgotten which could have been easily ascertained through these traditional music.

In the area of names,Esan names were used to buttress competency, identity, and mastery of life or situations. They are interpretations of situations and give insight into the future. The coming of Christianity has made those who answered traditional names on conversion to Christianity change them to Christian names particularly at baptism. Some who even answered meaningful traditional names considered a change necessary to match with the demands of the new religion. This trend almost destroyed the value in names as people abandoned meaningful names that expressed their philosophy, religion among others for European and foreign names that they did not even know what they mean.

Christianity brought about Western education which inculcated the English language among the Esan people. Flowing from this, there are many literate parents who deliberately use the English language as the only means of communication between themselves and their children at home against the traditional Esan language. Even among illiterate and semi-literate parents, it is becoming something of "fashion" to use adulterated English, Nigerian pigin English or a mixture of both Esan and English, or Esan and Nigerian pigin English reflecting an apparent diglossie situation in a society that otherwise was homogenous linguistically. So therefore, most children born into Esan society can barely speak Esan language fluently let alone communicate in Esan language which has adversely affected the cultural value of Esan society.

The early Christian denominations did not favor indigenization of either their religious practices or ministers. Their policy was that of maintaining control over the churches. This did not augur well for the churches. It made adherents remain strange and evoked the rise of nationalist reactions from the African Christians. In Esan, as in other parts of Africa, there was a lack of total commitment on the part of the "Christians". To them Christianity was to be accepted because of the benefits of education and civilization it carried along. The true essence of the Christian gospel reconciling people to God was not there. In this regard, Osadolor Imosogie observation is very relevant to the Esan Christians. According to him, ""the observed lack of total commitment of the average African Christian to Christ is due to the lack of "fit" between Christian theology and Africa life. This lack of fit is, in turn, due to this same failure of western orthodox theologian to take African world views into consideration in their theological formulations"" (12).

This lack of commitment is responsible for these Christians resorting to traditional religious practices in time of crises. People were not truly committed to God and so they had no serious trust and confidence in His deliverance and protective powers. According to Chief Akhuatie, when there were communal clashes in Esanland, most people ran to native doctors and medicine men for protective charms. The same is true in times of sickness or any disaster in families or individual lives.

It has been said that, the Esan believed in faith-healing. Although this was done through the traditional perspective, yet all the elements that one would expect in the Christian explanation of faith healing process were there. For example, there were the elements of prayer, faith, objects of faith and even means. A brief summary of the Christian perspective of the Christian perspective of faith-healing will help us to clarify the point.

There are several accounts of healing of people who were sick all through the bible. In the Old Testament, we find some of these healings. In some cases, in respect of the Old Testament, it is not very clear whether medical means were used or not. The general tendency is to attribute them to divine intervention. A few example may suffice.
In Numbers 12:1-15 there is a record of the murmurings of Aaron and Miriam against their brother Moses because he had married a Cushite woman. The Lord struck Miriam with leprosy. Moses, however, interceded for her healing. In response to that plea God healed Miriam. In 2 Kings chapter 5, there is the account of the leprous Naaman. The kings of Syria and Israel could not help him. He was sent to Prophet Elisha, who gave instructions to Naaman on how to get healed. He was asked to go and wash himself seven times in river Jordan. Even though Naaman initially complained about what Elisha asked him to do, when he was persuaded to obey the prophet, he was healed. There are more instances of healing in the Old Testament. Let this suffice to illustrate our point.

From these, we observe the roles of prayer, faith and intermediary in the healing process of the sick. Casually, a look at the above instances will appear as if the demonstration of faith, which was eminent in the effecting of the healings, was done only by the intermediaries, in the case of Miriam, Moses and in the case of Naaman, Elisha and Naaman"s servants. This is not totally true. The sufferers would have demonstrated some amount of faith themselves. Theirs may not have been as strong as that of those effecting the healings, yet they believed.

Healing in the New Testament are predominantly those performed by the Lord Jesus Christ and some of the apostles. The healing of Christ are recorded in the Gospels, while those of the apostles are in the Acts. Some of these were of individuals, while others were of groups of people. Those healings were effected in several ways, and by different methods. For instance, "some were healed at a distance, some with a word but without a physical contact, some with physical contact and "means" ... (223).

It"s significant to note that the Lord Jesus used "means" in healing. By "means" here we mean something that enables some purpose to be fulfilled, in this case, healing. One may ask why He chose to use means in the process of healing on some occasions when He could just as well only speak the word to effect healing as He did on other occasions. Probably, He did that to demonstrate the fact that God was not against the use of means in healing. It might, however, be more authentic to suppose that He did that to aid the patient"s faith.

In the New Testament, healing depended on the demonstration of faith. It is on that in almost all the cases of healing done is done by the lord Jesus Christ, none was without demanding the exercise of faith. On some occasions, He deliberately asked the sick, "what do you want me to do for you?" (New International Version Matt. 20:32). The response showed faith, and by faith they were healed.

Others demonstrated faith on their own and were commended of the Lord. The centurion at Capernaum requested the Lord Jesus Christ just to speak the word. The Lord replied in recognition of his faith, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even Isreal" (New International Version Luke 7:9). The woman with the issue of blood exercised great faith she said "if only I touch His cloak, I wiil be healed" (New International Version Matthew 9:21). The Lord"s response was that ""your faith has healed you "" (verse 22). The woman was healed.

The Syrophoenician woman was equally commended. She persevered in spite of all odds. The Lord said to her, "Woman, youhave great faith! Your request is granted" (Matthew New International Version15:28). In all of these, their faith brought about the fulfillment of their desires. Conversely, there were those he had to rebuke for their faithlessness. Even the disciples were so rebuked because they could not perform miracles of healing because of their lack of faith. Examples of each of the groups above be multiplied. The significant aspect of each is the emphasis and prominence given to faith. Faith, therefore, was the determining factor in healing. God acted on faith so as to reveal His power. According to Harry Cressey, "it was faith which made whole, which made the difference between the mere creation of an impression and a saving communication of His revelation of God" (61). The faith was faith in God who was the focus.

After the time of Christ, the one of the prominent features of the Christian mission was healing the sick. The Lord Jesus Christ on commissioning His disciples for service was quoted as saying, ""heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leperosy, drive out demons.Freely you received, freely give" (New International VersionMatthew 10:8 and Luke 9:1). So the ministry of healing continued. Indeed, there are several accsounts of healing in the book of Acts. There were the healing of the lame man in Jerusalem (Acts 3:1-11), and that of the lame man in Lystra (Acts 14:8-10) whom Paul "had seen that he had faith to be made well".

There is also reference made to Paul"s handkerchief (or cloth) taken to the sick who touched it and became well. Peter"s shadow was reported to have healed the sick too (Acts 5:15). James advises that prayer for the sick should be accompanied by the anointing of oil (James 5:13-20). Like the spittle of Christ, the oil may have been recommended as a reinforcement of faith. The same can be said of the handkerchief and shadow. The healing power was not in those things as they simply acted as visible means of reinforcement. It was faith in God that brought the cure and healing.

A comparison of the Christian mode of faith healing and that of the traditional Esan society will show that they both have the following elements: prayer, faith, object of faith, and "means". One would have expected the early Christian missionaries to take cognizance of these and make proper adaptation for more effective results. Rather than doing that, they condemned every African and claimed that the Africans could not conceive God. A careful examination of the Independent and Pentecostal Churches will show that their rate of growth depended to a large extent on their adaptation to the African cultural value. This, however, is based on what the scriptures teach, particularly the Old Testament.

5.2. Summary

This study examines the impact of Christianity and western culturea a on cultural values of the Esan people. The Esan people have a long history with the Benin kingdom as her ancestral home of origin. It was seen that the traditional Esan society where richly endowed with the cultural values before the advent of Christian religion and Western culture in the first decade of the twentieth century. They had a religion with certain basic beliefs similar to those of the Christian religion. They believed in an Almighty or overall God Osenobua to whom worship was given through the minor communal household gods known as ebo.

The Christian religion in having contact with the traditional Esan ignored the cultural values of the indigenous people and imposed upon them their own values which was alien to the people. The result was that although the people cherished the new religion, they did not like to relinquish their own God-given values. As a result of this, there was a conflict of values particularly as the new religion was seen by the traditional Esan people in most cases, cannot meet their essential needs. However, this is not to say that missionaries were out to destroy completely the indigenous cultural values of the people. Since their contacts, there have been some significant development in their religious, social, educational and economic lives. Also there are some remarkable improvements in the standard of living of the people. For example the traditional Esan society which practiced subsistence farming has developed to commercial farming thereby increasing the economy of the people. In the same vain, the formal education introduced by the missionaries has brought educational enlightenment thereby making the Esans to become literate people. Today, many schools including a University has been established in Esanland.

In spite of the seeming declining membership of traditional religion in Esan, there appears reasons to conclude that traditional religion will continue to be a living religion in many years to come because traditional religion continues to be the source of meaning, direction and security for traditional Esan people including followers of other well established religious traditions. Traditional religion is a fundamental genitor of Esan ethos and world view. Through its spiritual and moral values: profound sense of sacred of the existence of God the creator and of the spiritual world; importance of family life, love anda respect for life, sense of solitary and community life among others. Traditional religion has been recognized as part of the religious and moral patrimony for mankind. This tolerant and respectful atmosphere has given confidence to the followers of African traditional religion. Many are no longer ashamed of their religious heritage as they were in the past. They are proud of being its heirs and consider it their duty and right to pass it on to the next generation.

5.3. Findings

At the end of the study the following are the findings:

1. That the advent of Christianity in Esanland made some people to abandon the cherished cultural values such as respect for elders, communal life, sacrifices, ancestral worship, Chastity, observation of sacred days amongst others, in the name of western civilization encouraged by Christian faith;
2. That the Christian religion has had tremendous positive influence on the cultural value of the Esan, there has been changes in the traditions and custom of the people for instance, the Arebhoa or Arewa custom that reduced the people to the status of harlots has since been abolished;
3. That the incursion of Christianity in Esanland, made some people to abandon their meaningful traditional names that expressed their cultural philosophy and religion to march with the new religion (Christianity), particularly at Baptism;
4. That the deviation from cultural values creates serious social problems in Esanland;
5. That the principles of the Christian religion are definitely different from the cultural garment in which they were brought into Esan; and
6. That the Esan, as in other parts of Africa, there was a lack of total commitment on the part of the "Christians", to them Christianity was to be accepted because of the benefits of education and civilization it carried along.

5.4. Contributions to Knowledge

This study has contributed to knowledge in the following ways:

1. It showed that the Christian religion propagated in Esanland is an instrument of transformation;
2. It reviewed that Esan culture of religion has infiltrated Christian practices through the royalities of Esan traditional relgion; and
3. It established that Christian evangelical pressure has made some Esan to abandon some cherished cultural values.

5.5. Conclusion

Long before the advent of Christianity into Esanland in the nineteenth century, the traditional society had already been structured to reflect its social cultural status. There were such social institutions that served the purposes of integration and sustenance. Such institutions also promoted the well-being of the society

The economy of Esan people have gradually evolved over the years as a result of the contact of the people with other cultures. Through assimilation and accumulation of the dominant western culture, the Esan society has continued to witness changes and development in its culture. We have seen for instance that Esan was richly endowed with certain cultural values. These include communalism, respect for elders and constituted authority, chastity, observance of sacred days and festivals, maintenance of unity, regard for music, belief in life after death and sanctity of life and importance of name to mention but a few. The challenge for the Esan Christians especially these days of the clamor for cultural revolution is whether these values (the traditional values) are to be maintained and revitalized as they now stand or whether they can be given a new form or even rectified.

The Christian religion came to Esan with its values and the values of the European culture through which Christianity came. A further challenge therefore is how to link the values from Christianity with the traditional values in order to resolve apparent conflicts and create a conducive atmosphere for peaceful coexistence. For example, the two traditions believe in the existence of the spirits of the dead. Do they, the departed influence the living? The Esan traditional belief will answer in the affirmative whereas the Christian tradition will say no. The way to go about it is to seek a middle ground to resolve this and similar issues. There has been conflict of values and such conflicts must be resolved

In evaluation, we evaluate how the teachings and values of Christianity have affected the values of the Esan traditional society. It has clearly been shown that there is a difference between the essential spirit of Christianity and the culture of Europe. In other words, the principles of the Christian religion are definitely different from the cultural garment in which they were brought into Esanland. After the evaluation, there are some recommendations for the effective presence of the Christian Church in Esanland.

5.6. Recommendations

In the foregoing, recommendations are based on the perceived problems in the body of the work. With the impact of Christianity on the cultural values of the Esan people to consider, there are obviously stages in this historical narrative that present issues that give rise to the comments. The following are therefore recommended.

That the Christian missionaries and prospective workers in Esan should:

1. Use Bible models and images in preaching which make great sense to those within the culture;
2. Use images and models which makes sense to the natives of the culture; and
3. They should appreciate other cultures and allow the persons within them to express their new found Christian faith in modes comfortable to them.

The missionaries above everything else should have proper appreciation of cultural validity (or what is popularly called cultural relativism), this demands that an observer should be careful to evaluate a culture first in terms of his own values, goals and focusses before venturing to compare it with any other culture.

That Esan people should be encouraged to bear their traditional names that are meaningful and expresses their cultural philosophy, religion among others so as to maintain their identity and further demonstrate their recognitions of God. In that way, they will be able to pass on to succeeding generations the valuable virtues in names.

Since the Western style of singing during worship does not appeal much to the Esan people, they should be allowed to make music in their own way; such music should be accompanied by local instrument, clapping of hands and dancing, and should be theologically sound.

Since is need for reevaluation of the content of the Christian massage and practices in Esan were there had been mistakes in presentations, for the overall benefit of the church.

Those cultural values in Esan traditional society that are no longer relevant to the 21st century should be discarded.

That Esan people should be grateful or should appreciate the significant contributions and tremendous sacrifices that Western missionaries have made towards the development of African nations generally and Esan particularly.

The church in Esan should reexamine its role in the society with the view to properly identifying with the hopes and aspirations of the people because the church as a social institution has certain social function.

That the Esan people should accept and use all the good things the Western Christianity has brought on its wings as the adage goes ""you cannot throw away a child with a dirty water in which he was bathed"" Christianity has been of tremendous benefits to our society and culture.

Christian witnesses and missionaries should establish relationships of respect and love with those men (to whom they witness), they should acknowledge themselves as members of the group in which they live, and through the various understandings and affairs of human life they should share in their social and cultural life.

Europeans should respect, accept, and not reject elements of the subordinate Esan culture because there are some good elements in Esan cultural setting, especially the religious aspect.

European nations should not assume cultural arrogance and superiority complex on Esan culture as this will bring about strife between Esan culture and Westernised Christian institutions.

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