Religious Change in Yoruba Society: A Test Case

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Periodical article

Title:	Religious Change in Yoruba Society: A Test Case
Author:	Parratt, John K.
Year:	1969
Periodical:	Journal of Religion in Africa
Volume:	2
Issue:	2
Pages:	113-128
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Nigeria
Subjects:	Church Islam African religions Yoruba Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Religion and Witchcraft conversion
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/1594906
Abstract:	Much of the material for this article is based on the results of a survey conducted by A.R.I. Doi and the author into religious attitudes in the city of Ile-Ife in the Western Region of Nigeria. Ile-Ife provides an instructive example both of the pattern of allegiance to the various faiths, and also of the reasons for the abandonment of the traditional religion. Although Ife is the traditional home of the Yoruba religion the cults have not sustained their hold to a greater extent there than elsewhere in Yorubaland. Those venerating the traditional orisas, as opposed to Christianity or Islam, were numbering less than 5 percent of the population. There is every indication that within the next generation or two the traditional religion, as a formal entity, will disappear entirely. In Ile-Ife, unlike many other parts of Yorubaland, it is Christianity rather than Islam which has made the greatest headway. While Anglicanism was by far the largest religious body, the fastest growing one is that of the Aladura Churches, which will become an increasingly important factor in Yoruba society. Notes, appendix with tables.