"There are no other gods," said Mr. Brown. "Chukwu is the only God and all
others are false. You carve a piece of wood--like that one" (he pointed at the rafters
from which Akunna's carved Ikenga hung), "and you call it a god. But it is still a piece
of wood."
"Yes," said Akunna. "It is indeed a piece of wood. The tree from which it came
was made by Chukwu, as indeed all minor gods were. But He made them for His
messengers so that we could approach Him through them. It is like yourself. You are the
head of your church."
"No," protested Mr. Brown. "The head of my church is God Himself."
"I know," said Akunna, "but there must be a head in this world among men.
Somebody like yourself must be the head here."
"The head of my church in that sense is in England."
"That is exactly what I am saying. The head of your church is in your country.
He has sent you here as his messenger. And you have also appointed your own
messengers and servants. Or let me take another example, the District Commissioner.
He is sent by your king."
"They have a queen," said the interpreter on his own account.
"Your queen sends her messenger, the District Commissioner. He finds that he
cannot do the work alone and so he appoints kotma to help him. It is the same with God,
or Chukwu. He appoints the smaller gods to help Him because His work is too great for
one person."
"You should not think of Him as a person," said Mr. Brown. "It is because you
do so that you imagine He must need helpers. And the worst thing about it is that you
give all the worship to the false gods you have created."
"That is not so. We make sacrifices to the little gods, but when they fail and
there is no one else to turn to we go to Chukwu. It is right to do so. We approach a great