Religion Essay 3 - TIME Mbiti PDF

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Mbiti, African Religions and Philosophy Within traditional African religion, there exist a rhythm of life and time that differs from that of today’s common manner. Ancient religious Africans lived life according to the succeeding structure. The initial stage of life is birth followed by “...puberty, initiation, marriage, procreation, old age, death, entry into the company of the departed and finally entry into the company of the spirits” (p. 31). John S. Mbiti dissects this pattern of life and its relation to time in his book, “African Religions and Philosophy”. He delivers the meaning of eventual time which is way time was measured by those who practiced ancient African religion. In ancient African religion, time is determined by events. If there were not any occurring events, time could not be recognized as having any meaning and therefore did not exist. Mbiti explains that “For them time is simply a composition of events which have occurred, those which are taking place now and those which are taking place now and those which are immediately to occur” (p.21). Certain events that could determine time are listed above in the stages of life they live their lives according to, such as a birth. A day would be organized not on the things that should happen or the task that should be completed, rather it would be organized according to what actually has occurred or is occurring. Mbiti does add though that, “If, however, future events are certain to occur, or if they fall within the inevitable rhythm of nature, they at best constitute for potential time, not actual time” (p. 23). In other words, if something is certainly going to happen or follows the basic structure of life, such as a birth or death, then that can be accounted for as the future, but it is not common for something to fall under this category. Mbiti trails this point; he states, “The most significant consequence of this is that, according to traditional concepts, time is a two-dimensional phenomenon, with a long past, a

present, and virtually no future…The future is virtually absent because events which lie in it have not taken place and they have not been realized and therefore cannot constitute time” (p. 21-22). Mbiti arises a fascinating point here; within these ancient African religions, the future cannot be determined and therefore does not exist. This is simply because, events that will occur in the future has not occurred yet, leaving nothing, or no events to measure time with. The way in which ancient Africans perceived time differs tremendously from the manner in which we as modern day humans relate time. It seems as if humans now fail to ever live in the current moment. Society begins to prepare children for the future as soon as they are able to. Everyone moves at an incredibly fast pace to finish one task so they can anticipate the next. Even in relation to my personal life, I feel as if everything I do involves awaiting the future and the results it holds. If we were to live in the sense of time similar to ancient African’s, I believe there would be far less worrying and anxiousness. For ancient Africans, time “…moves backward rather than forward; and people set their minds not on future things, but chiefly on what has taken place” (p. 23). You would not really have to fear what the future entails because the future does not exist. “Time has to be experienced in order to make sense or become real”, says Mbiti (p. 23). You are solely concerned with what is happening in time, now. In ancient African religion, there was also little to no use of calendars. Mbiti speaks briefly about the use of phenomenon calendars used for birth or travel but also adds that they were extremely rare. Calendars are used widely used today because unlike ancient Africans, we are also planning for the future. The manner in which you perceive others in your life such as your family would also be altered due to this difference in time perception. “A person experiences time partly in his individual life, and partly through the society which goes back many generations before his own

birth” (p.23). To elaborate, you carry the experiences of your parents and grandparents and so forth. Your children will continue to carry with them the same experiences and yours as well. I would therefore truly value all my actions if I lived in such a way....