The dead are believed to remain members of the family.
Missionary orientation · Ancestors
What are ancestors?
A first guide to the words, beliefs and practices a Christian may encounter while serving in an African community—and how Scripture helps us respond.
There is no single, uniform African religion. Beliefs about the departed vary across nations, ethnic groups, families and cities. A missionary should therefore begin by listening and asking what a particular person means—not by assuming that every African holds the same beliefs.
Still, recurring patterns appear across many communities. The departed may be understood not merely as people remembered with affection, but as continuing members of the family who can influence health, fertility, protection, misfortune and relationships. This page explains that religious meaning.
01
Meaning and names
The word is not automatically evil
In ordinary English, an ancestor is simply someone from whom another person descends—one who came before. The Bible records genealogies and speaks freely about forefathers. Remembering family history, honouring parents and thanking God for those who came before us are not ancestor worship.
The religious meaning is more specific. Terms you may hear include izinyanya in isiXhosa and amadlozi in isiZulu, with other names in other African languages. In this setting, the words commonly refer to departed family members believed to remain involved in the affairs of the living.
Working definition
Ancestors are deceased members of a family or community who are believed to continue participating spiritually in the life of their descendants and who may therefore be honoured, consulted, invoked or given offerings.
02
What is believed
Between the family and the spiritual world
John S. Mbiti famously described recently departed family members as the “living-dead.” He meant that they are physically dead but remain “alive” within the memory, relationships and religious world of the community. Because they once belonged to the human family and are now believed to inhabit the realm of the departed, they may be treated as a bridge between the two worlds.
This is a useful description of the belief, but it is not a biblical endorsement. Scripture teaches that those who die are truly dead and stand before God. Their continued existence before God does not make them authorised mediators, guardians or messengers for their descendants. Christians must distinguish between describing what people believe and affirming that the belief is true.
They may be approached as intermediaries between the family and God.
They may be asked to guard the home, children, health or future.
Illness or misfortune may be interpreted as ancestral displeasure.
03
Common practices
How ancestral belief is expressed
Practices differ, but a newcomer may encounter some of the following. These acts are normally relational rather than merely theoretical: they seek to maintain harmony between the living family and the departed.
- Speaking or praying to the departedRequests, explanations or family news may be addressed to an ancestor.
- Animal sacrificeAn animal may be slaughtered to communicate, give thanks, seek favour or restore a damaged relationship.
- Food or drink offeringsFood, traditional beer or another gift may be set apart or poured out.
- Consulting a divinerA specialist may identify which ancestor is speaking, what offence occurred or what ritual is required.
- Interpreting dreams and misfortuneDreams, sickness, infertility or repeated trouble may be read as ancestral messages or displeasure.
- Family ceremoniesBirths, marriage, death, homecomings or major decisions may include formally acknowledging the departed.
04
A biblical assessment
Christ, not the departed, brings us to God
The Bible takes the spiritual questions behind ancestral practice seriously: guilt must be dealt with, people need protection, death ruptures families, and human beings need access to God. But Scripture does not direct us to the dead for any of these things.
God forbids divination, mediums and inquiry of the dead.
God’s people must inquire of God, not consult the dead on behalf of the living.
There is one mediator between God and humanity: Christ Jesus.
Christ’s once-for-all sacrifice ends every rival cycle of sacrifice for spiritual acceptance.
Christians do not deny their families or despise African culture. We honour parents and elders, preserve truthful family history and care for graves with dignity. But prayer, sacrifice, spiritual trust and mediation belong to God through Christ alone. The gospel does not erase our ancestry; it frees us from needing the departed to secure God’s favour.
Questions newcomers ask
A quick field guide
Are ancestors simply family members who died?
The word can be used ordinarily for those from whom a person descends. In an ancestral religious system, however, it usually refers to departed family members believed to retain a special relationship with the living and to exercise spiritual influence in family life.
Do Africans worship ancestors?
People often prefer words such as honour, respect or veneration. Those distinctions should be heard fairly. Yet when a departed person is addressed, petitioned, offered sacrifice or trusted for spiritual protection, the practice has become religious—whatever label is used.
Are ancestors believed to be gods?
Usually not. They are commonly understood as departed human beings who remain part of the family and may act as intermediaries, guardians or sources of warning and discipline. Beliefs differ between peoples and families.
Why are sacrifices or offerings made?
An animal, food, drink or another gift may be offered to acknowledge the departed, restore harmony, seek protection, respond to misfortune or communicate a family request. The meaning depends on the community and occasion.
Can the ancestors carry prayers to God?
Some traditions treat ancestors as nearer to the spiritual realm and therefore able to mediate. The New Testament directs Christians elsewhere: there is one mediator between God and humanity, Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5).
Can a Christian participate only for cultural reasons?
Not every family custom is worship, and Christians should not reject African identity or ordinary respect for elders. But addressing the dead, seeking their favour, offering sacrifice to them or depending on them for protection crosses from culture into spiritual allegiance.
For missionaries and church workers
Listen carefully. Speak clearly. Point to Christ.
Do not mock, romanticise or flatten African beliefs. Ask which people are being addressed, what is expected from them, what fear lies behind the ritual and what would happen if the family refused it.
Then show how the gospel answers the real concern: Christ gives direct access to the Father, bears guilt in a final sacrifice, defeats hostile powers and holds authority over both the living and the dead.