Religion and the Myths of Creation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

         The Democratic Republic of the Congo, (DRC) for short, is made up of various religions. It has its roots in its various indigenous religions as well as the more mainstream religions found around the world. Prior to the introduction of Christianity, the indigenous religious beliefs were centered on a supreme being, the power of the ancestors, spirits of nature, and the efficacy of magic. (Payanzo 2015) Magicians, witches, and shamans were supposed to be able to link the spiritual world with the world of man. It is not vital to many indigenous religions but is necessary to them. Today the country is made up of 50% Roman Catholic, 20% Protestant, 10% Kimbanguist, 10% Muslim, 10% other (which includes syncretic sects and indigenous beliefs) (C.I.A. n.d.)

 


(Figure1)



(Figure 1)

As Belgium colonized the Democratic Republic of the Congo near the start of the 20^th century Belgian Roman Catholics were predominantly authorized to established schools and hospitals throughout the colony (Wikipedia n.d.) Yet this was not the first attempt to convert the country to Christianity. The first attempts came in 1484, when Diego Cam discovered the mouth of the Congo River. The naval chaplain set himself at once to preach the story of Jesus to the natives, and won to the faith the of the chief of Sogno, a village on the right bank of the Congo, where he first landed. (Catholic.com n.d.) The Protestant Church first introduced in January of 1878 with the arrival of Reverend George Grenfell and Comber Thomas of the Baptist Missionary Society. By 1891 the Chapel SIMS was completed and is the oldest building in Kinshasa of native durable materials. (Congo n.d.) One of the most interesting religious groups found in the (DRC) is Kimbanguism. A new religious movement founded by Simon Kimbangu. It is considered a branch of Christianity. The founder Simon Kimbangu started the movement through miraculous healing and biblical teachings in the early 1920’s. The Belgian authorities were suspicious and imprisoned Kimbangu until his death in 1951. The Church is very conservative, rejecting violence, polygamy, magic, witchcraft, alcohol, tobacco, and dancing. (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica n.d.)



(Figure 2)



 

 

By the mid 7^thcentury Islam had made its way to northern Africa. By the mid late 13^thcentury Islam began to spread to sub- Sahara Africa by way of merchants seeking trade meanwhile they spread the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. Christianity has had a far larger effect on the growth of the DRC than Islam. Christianity has helped in the independency as well as the modernization of the DRC. There has not been large religious changes in the country over the last 200 years. Of the different Christian denominations the Roman Catholic Church still remains the most dominate in the DRC.



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 In the Christian faith the creation story is the same no matter where you go in the world. This is not true for the indigenous religions of the “DRC”.  Because there was a tradition of oral storytelling being passed on throughout the generations. The creation stories tended to change from kingdom to kingdom and village to village. Take The Kingdom of Kongo for instance. The myth of how their kingdom was created changes several times over the centuries. Although the premise is the same the details change drastically. The BaKongo as they are called, say that the kingdom was founded in the 1300s. (Belcher 2005) All the stories of the founding had to do with a woman at a river crossing being insulted or killed. That led to someone becoming king and taking over the area thus creating the Kingdom of Kongo. Then you have the Kuba Kingdom of The Bushoong. Their story about the creation of man also changes throughout time, but the all the stories carry the same bases. They all involve the sky father Mboom who vomited out the sun, the moon, and the stars. Then he vomited the crocodile and other animals which in turn vomited other animal including man. Mboom ended up with 9 sons all called Woot and each were responsible for some part of the creation of the world. Woot gave man farming, wood to build, iron tools, and tame animals. Like most creation myths the Kubu use theirs to teach everyday lessons that are relevant to them at the time.

Figure 1 (Operationworld.org n.d.) Religious % of the total population....... 1

Figure 2 (Department of Arts of Africa 2000) The spread of Islam from north to south and east to west...... 2
Figure 3 (Wells n.d.) Africa’s Diverse Religious make-up........ 2

Bibliography

Belcher, Stephen. African Myths of Origin. London: Penguin Group, 2005.

C.I.A. C.I.A The World Factbook . n.d. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cg.html (accessed 05 25, 2015).

Catholic.com. Congo Independent Stat and Congo Missions. n.d. http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Congo_Independent_State_and_Congo_Missions (accessed 05 27, 2015).

Congo, Church of Christ in. Church of Christ in Congo: Histories. n.d. http://ecc.faithweb.com/ (accessed 05 25, 2015).

Department of Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Trade and the Spread of Islam in Africa. 2000. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/tsis/hd_tsis.htm (accessed 05 27, 2015).

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Operationworld.org. Congo- DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo(Formally Zaire) Africa. n.d. http://www.operationworld.org/cong (accessed 05 28, 2015).

Payanzo, Ntsomo. Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 05 27, 2015. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/132363/Democratic-Republic-of-the-Congo-DRC/40796/Languages (accessed 05 27, 2015).

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. Kimbanguist Church. n.d. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/317916/Kimbanguist-Church (accessed 05 27, 2015).

Wells, Mark. Traditional African Religions . n.d. http://knowledgeisking.ning.com/forum/topics/traditional-african-religions (accessed 05 27, 2015).

Wikipedia. Roman Catholicism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. n.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo (accessed 05 27, 2015).