E Bolaji Idowu (1913–1995 was the third native-born leader of the
Methodist Church Nigeria
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
, serving from 1972 to 1984. He is also well known for his ethnographic and theological studies of the
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
people.
Life
Idowu was born on 28 September 1913, in
Ikorodu,
Lagos State, Nigeria. His early education was at the
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
and
Methodist schools in Ikorodu. There, he met the Rev. A. T. Ola Olude and was converted to Christianity. After finishing at Wesley College in
Ibadan, he became headmaster at the primary school in Remo,
Ogun State. He was ordained in 1942.
From 1945 to 1948, he continued his studies at
Wesley House
Wesley House was founded as a Methodist theological college (or seminary) in Jesus Lane, Cambridge, England. It opened in 1921 as a place for the education of Methodist ministers and today serves as a gateway to theological scholarship for stu ...
,
Cambridge. From 1957 to 1958, he was posted in Germany in an effort to resolve some of the problems that were facing African and Asian students there. In 1958 he joined the staff of the Department of Religious Studies at the
University of Ibadan and served as its head from 1963 to 1976.
Church leader
In 1972, he was elected president of the Methodist Church Nigeria. He immediately initiated a reform of the church's constitution, emphasizing the need for autonomy and
indigenization
Indigenization is the act of making something more native; transformation of some service, idea, etc. to suit a local culture, especially through the use of more indigenous people in public administration, employment and other fields.
The term is ...
. The new constitution was ratified in 1976, whereupon Idowu became the church's
patriarch. Church members held him in such high esteem that items he had touched during his services were believed to have healing powers. He retired in 1984 and died in 1993. A cathedral in
Ikorodu was named in his honor.
Ethnotheology
In the process of preparing a doctoral thesis for the
University of London (in 1955), Idowu discovered that all the available material on African religion appeared to be inaccurate, condescending or simply ridiculous. (For example:
Leo Frobenius's belief that the Yoruba religion came from
Plato's Atlantis by way of Egypt.) As a result, he set out to describe the religious beliefs of his own Yoruba people according to universal theological concerns such as the nature of the Deity, morality, and the ultimate destiny of mankind. His writings on the subject are among the first examples of African religion seen from the viewpoint of an African, but it is not a traditional religious, and the result is biased by Christianity, distancing the reader from real orthodox tribal customs and practices. .
Publications
* ''Olódùmarè : God in Yoruba Belief'', New York, N.Y., Wazobia (1994)
* ''African Traditional Religion: a Definition'', Maryknoll, N.Y.,
Orbis Books
Orbis Books, is an American imprint of the Maryknoll order. It has been a small but influential publisher of liberation theology works. It was founded by Nicaraguan Maryknoll priest Miguel D'Escoto with Philip J. Scharper in 1970. Its editor-in- ...
(1973)
* ''Olódùmarè : God in Yoruba Belief'', Ikeja : Longman Nigeria (1982)
* ''Towards an Indigenous Church'', London, Oxford University Press (1965)
* Obituary: God’s or Man’s,” an inaugural lecture delivered at the University of Ibadan on Thursday, October 24, (1974).
See also
*
Yoruba religion
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Idowu, Bolaji
People from Lagos
Yoruba Christian clergy
University of Ibadan faculty
1913 births
1993 deaths
Nigerian Methodists
Alumni of the University of London
20th-century Nigerian people
Alumni of Wesley House