What Is Not Sacred? A Case for a Global Spirituality

Abstract

In November 2013, I came across a book by Professor Laurenti Magesa entitled “What Is Not Sacred? African Spirituality”. The intriguing part of the book at first glance has been the question which forms the title. This thought-provoking title raises questions about the extent of sacredness such that a claim of this nature could be held at all times and in all circumstances, not forgetting whether the same claim could be confined only to African belief systems. Hence, though the book is primarily concerned with
African experience of the sacred, further considerations could, in my view, complement the findings contained therein to larger human society. The present article argues that if elaborate clarifications and diagnostic extrapolations were resorted to, there are legitimate
resources which could help defend the position that Africa’s sense of sacredness as studied by Magesa goes way beyond the traditional confinements in which it is discovered.