This paper explores features that are common to both modern Western scientific thought and traditional African thought. The differences between the two are enumerated. In the Western scheme of knowledge, there is a continuous quest for explanatory theory for every phenomenon investigated. The paper notes that atoms, molecules, gods, and spirits have an intellectual function in the generation of knowledge in both Western and African ideas. If one of the essential functions of theory is to help the mind transcend human limitations, it will be fair to say that both the diviner and the physicist are making the same use of theory to transcend the limited vision of natural causes provided by common sense. Most traditional African cultures have adopted a personal idiom as the basis of their attempts to understand the world. The paper notes the difference between Western and African ideas in terms of non-personal and personalized theory. (YP)