The definition and interpretation of the concept of joh (juok, jwoh) has been a central issue in Nilotic studies since the , beginning of this century. Jok is a widespread religious concept among Western Nilotic peoples such as the Dinka, Shilluk, Anuak, Pari, Acholi, Lango, Alur and Kenya Luo. A veriety of English words have been applied for the translation of this concept: God, god, Supreme Being, divinty, spirit, supernatural power or force etc. The connotation of jok is also so wide that it may also include ancestor spirits, epidemic diseases and "white men". This "jok problem" has puzzled not only anthropologists but also Christian missionaries and colonial administrators. For most of them, explicitly or implicitly, "What is jok ?" is a synonym of "Is jok equivalent to the Christian God?" or "Is jok the Creator?". Therefore this problem is treated rather theologically, with bias of a Christian or Western pomt of view. In this paper I try to describe and analyze the concept of jwok among the Pari, a Western Nilotic group in the southern Sudan. My approach is to understand the significance of jwok in the cognition of the Pari themselves. What kind of interactions exist and are expressed between the Pari and jwok both in everyday life and rituals? How are these interactions interpreted by the Pari? I do not approach jwoh theologically because the Pari, not being theologists, do not do that. The contents of this paper are as follows. Firstly the connotations of jwok, varying from a kind of Creator to epidemic diseases and "white men", are discussed.
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