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Differnce between IBO Religion and Christianity

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Differnce between IBO Religion and Christianity
What Are the Differences between Ibo Religion and Christianity?

After reading, Things Fall Apart, we might ask what are the differences between the religions that the Ibo Clan practice, compared to a highly practiced religion, Christianity. Some of the differences are how the Ibo religion practice polytheism, belief in more then one God, and the Christians practice monotheism, belief in only one God, the creator of Heaven and Earth, his name is God. Others are, how they believe in animated Gods, which are alive and there Gods can be seen, and Christianity believes in inanimate gods, which their God is eternal. There is a huge difference between the Ibo Clan religion and Christianity, it will be shown.

When Mr. Brown, the missionary, comes to the village of Umuofia to spread the word of God to the Ibo Clan, he met Akunna. Mr. Brown and Akunna has a conversation about their differences in religion, Akunna telling Mr. Brown that the Ibo Clan believes in one supreme God but had others that they worship, the name of their God is Chucku, because "he made all the world and not other Gods." Akunna also mentions to Mr. Brown that they also worship carved wood, "they tree from which it came was made by Chukwu, as indeed other minor God were" Akunna tells Mr. Brown that the Ibo religion "make sacrifices to the little gods, but when all else fails there is no one to turn to they go to Chuckw." (180)

Another God, besides the carved wood, that the Ibo worship, is the Oracle of the Hills and Caves. The Ibo believe that they must do whatever the Oracle of the Hills says, if the don't the people of the village will be punished. An example of this is when the Oracle of the Hills pronounces that Ikemefuma, the boy living with Okonkwo, need to be killed. Since the Oracle of the Hills and Caves says that it must be done, "the men of Umuofia took the boy outside the village and killed him" (57). The Ibo religion is very different from Christianity. Since Christianity only believes in

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