Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

In the last few centuries, and notably in the twentieth, the tribal peoples of the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific have responded to their increasing interaction with the more sophisticated and powerful societies and religions by developing their own new religious movements. These usually differ at some important points from both the local tribal (here called primal) religion and the more universal religion concerned. Such movements have arisen in the interaction with Western culture and the Christian religion following the expansion of the European peoples across the world, but they also occur in relation to Hindu, Buddhist and, to a lesser extent, Islamic contacts. Most of these religious movements possess no written sacred texts or other sources and have depended instead on a new oral tradition. This oral tradition enshrines the account of the origins of the movement, often the story of the founder's call and early struggles. These may also have been recorded in a diary or journal, or as a written testimony, and they can then assume the status of an authoritative canon or incipient scriptures. Sometimes this material is presented as having been given in written form from heaven, or otherwise divinely revealed. The oral tradition may also include new forms of old myths, and very often a body of sacred songs and prayers that may become the basis for a printed hymn-book or ... log in or subscribe to read full text