Journal of Comparative Study of Religions (JCSR)
Vol. 5 No. 2 (2025): Journal of Comparative Study of Religions (JCSR)

The Ritual of Azazel in the Jewish Tradition and Osu Caste System in Igbo Tradition: Any Nexus?

Rowland Onyenali (Unknown)



Article Info

Publish Date
03 May 2025

Abstract

In today’s African society, there is a sudden surge in interest in Indigenous African Spiritualities (IAS). This interest is mainly among the youth. This surge seems to come face to face with the Judeo-Christian tradition which has taken strong root in Africa. In some cases, the return to IAS seems to challenge the long-age accepted teachings and dogmas of the Judeo-Christian faith. This return to IAS is because of the feeling of the youth that the Judeo-Christian faith does not address some of their pressing needs like issues of insecurity, the question of theodicy, financial issues, etc. When they read through the scriptures of the Judeo-Christian tradition, they fail to see much connection between what these scriptures teach and the accepted beliefs of IAS. The paper argues for a connection between the teachings of the Jewish scriptures and IAS in one core aspect. It adopts a historical and cross-cultural methodology to come to the conclusion that the Azazel ritual of the Jewish Testament has a counterpart in the Osu caste system of the traditional Igbo religion. This is especially so in the propitiatory function of the two rituals.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

JCSR

Publisher

Subject

Religion Humanities Social Sciences

Description

ssues in the study of religions are increasingly interesting to discuss. For that, since Vol. 2. No. May 2, 2022, JCSR Journal of Comparative Study of Religions will focus on contemporary issues in religious studies. JCSR aims to publish original articles, book reviews, and review articles from ...