Introduction to Yoruba Philosophy, Religion and Literature, published in 1998 by Athelia Henrietta Press, New York.

August 4, 2004 -- What could have happened if Ifa-Ife had developed into a Holy Book on the same footing with the Bible and the Qur'an? What effects do Christianity and Islam have on Ifa-Ife--the Book of Enlightenment? To the first question: everyone will agree that Ifa-Ife must have become a monumental book of philosophy, religion and literature which every culture will like to dwell upon. With 256 books and numerous chapters, Ifa-Ife is more voluminous than the Bible and Qur'an, put together. To the second question, the Bible and the Qur'an have marginalized Ifa-Ife, making it as though it never existed before the duo were written.

Let's go to the past and reconstruct what has been neglected, now that the center is no longer holding. We have escaped from the center of reality for so long. What can a man do without believing in his culture? A foreign culture cannot shelter him like his own native culture, even if he is acculturated. Man cannot afford to lose the sensibility of our very making, for whosoever loses his/her umbilical cord, loses everything: everything he/she owns.

We must remember that if we leave the Book of Enlightenment, the Book of Enlightenment will also abandon us, and the result of its turning its back on us will be catastrophic. Let's rally round it so that we can show to the posterity the foundation and the salvation of our past and the present existence, just as other faiths have shown to their posterity what they possess--with style, charisma and pride. We must go to the basics; basics that must be born out of substance rather than evocative emotion. There is salvation in every faith that rightfully does the will of Olodumare--God.

Inasmuch as the "holy books" are equal in the sight of Creator-God, there is no logic of leaving one for the other. As "A" can be saved by believing in Olodumare through the WORDS in the Bible or Qur'an, so also "A" can be saved by believing in Olorun (God) through the WORDS in the Book of Enlightenment. The Book of Enlightenment must cease to be a chapter in the religio-philosophy of the Bible and other apocryphal writings.



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