140 Conversion and Influence of Christianity on African Traditional Marriage Rituals John Chidubem Nwaogaidu Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Abstract The coming of Christianity in the Southeastern part of Nigeria in the late nineteenth century through the Irish missionaries saw the conversion of many of the inhabitants into Christianity. Their conversion at first, placed them in complexity with their autochthonous religious practices out of the thrust for better religious/social status. This complexity is more evident on the issue of the marriage rituals. This study therefore interrogates how many of the converts were faced with the challenge of obedience either to the traditional rituals of marriage or the new Christian practices. It discovered that some of the initial efforts made by the missionaries to abolish or substitute some of the indigenous ritual practices with the Christian faith practices proved abortive. That notwithstanding, it became the case that the renunciation of the traditional religious beliefs for the ‘alien’ Christian beliefs was regarded as superlative. The objective of this work is to investigate the extent Christianity has wielded influence on the marriage rituals in today’s Africa. This study is drawn from an ethnographical research and supplemented with archival sources. Keywords: indigenous beliefs; integration; kinship; missionary; religious obligations Introduction The changes implemented by the Christian mission in the marriage system in Africa especially in the Igbo society had effects on the lives of the people and their culture. The main intention of the mission was to impose the Christian values for the rearrangement of the existing social order. This work explores the character of Igbo society through the understanding of the social changes. The ritual changes as consequent of Christianity have implications in understanding the nature of social relations in the society. Marriage ritual implies a collective intervention towards the existence of a group and its integration into the society. Ritual is seen in this work based on its practice within the kinship system and how it consummates the marriage between a man and a woman on the one hand and between one family and another on the other hand (Gyekye, 1996, p. 76; ‘alliance theory’ by Lévi-Strauss, 1969; Keesing, 1981,