evidence suggesting that Christianity was already on the continent Dr. Leslie King-Hammond, historian, artist, curator and Dean of the Maryland Institute College of Art, observes, “many of the Africans who came to the New World, probably had already had contact with Christianity from missionaries who were stationed on the Continent.” Once in America, many Africans faced a confusing range of options with respect to the religion. Some of the findings are puzzling for critics of colonialism. Historically Jesus was actually taken to the northern part of Africa (Egypt) as a child. [On the other hand,] the Africans adapted Christianity for their survival and liberation." user = "newswires"; The trend would however pick up in the late 19th Century as explorers like David Livingstone and Henry-Morton Stanley explored deeper into the African interior with the professed intention of spreading the ‘Gospel and ‘Civilization’. With a new exhibit she has curated called “Ashe to Amen: African Americans and Biblical Imagery”, King-Hammond examines what Black people did with the religion once they were in America. With the knowledge in mind that Africans actually play a crucial role in the expansion of the religion in Europe, one cannot make the assertion that Europeans actually introduced Africans to the religion. The barbarism of colonialism in Africa was committed in the name of Christianity, in clear violation of the teachings of Jesus Christ, Moses and the prophets, Muhammad, and founders of other great religions – all of whom pushed for just and equitable treatment of all of God’s children. Advisory Council members include at least eleven African scholars and religious leaders. Atheists, secularists, humanists and others … dark continent that is heading towards hell. Christianity was introduced in North Africa as early as the first century AD., but it was only in the late nineteenth century, when colonialism was advancing, that Christianity seriously increased its presence on the continent (Ray, 1976: 193). Christianity served as a major force in the partition and eventual colonization of Africa (Boahen 12). King-Hammond has been working with theologians, scholars and artists for the last 10 years, researching how artists visualized faith then and now. document.write(user + '@' + site + ''); [South Africa, Tswana, colonialism, Christianity, missionaries, power, domination and resistance, historical agency and cultural discourse] Citing Literature. document.write(''); Christianity was thriving in the horn of Africa in the 1st “They came into the Bible under very arduous conditions. Although there were some earlier small-scale efforts, the major missionary activities from Europe and North America came late in the 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa. Colonial Christianity also brought to Africa the concept of the Victorian woman: a woman who should stay in the private domain and leave the “real work” to the men. Yet today the myth of a pre-colonial sexual innocence, or more fittingly, ignorance, is used to endorse anti-gay legislation and stir up homophobia and persecution in Africa. All rights reserved. Your email address will not be published. “Christianity was a double-edged sword [for African-Americans],” says Dr. Lawrence H. Mamiya, Professor of Religion and Africana Studies at Vassar College and co-author of The Black Church in the African American Experience. The purpose of this course will be to study the development of religion in Africa in the period before the European takeover of the continent. [ Links ] Gifford, P. 2008. It is probably reasonable to note that the colonial scramble for and in Africa had its main support from the Christian missionaries. … Subsequently displaced by Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries, the ancient Coptic and Orthodox churches nevertheless remain active in Egypt, Ethiopia, and Eritrea today. It is recognizable that historically Christianity came to Sub-Sahara Africa in the 15th century but that cannot over shadow the fact that Christianity was already on the continent before the … One historical fact that is widely held by church historians is that Christianity started well before the era of colonialism. Europeans at the time were in the majority heathen and did everything in their power to remain heathen. Follow her on Twitter @nanaekua. Faith/Spirituality With that link to that part of the continent, the people were accommodating to Some of them stuck to their mission others however, aided in the colonization of Africans by Europeans. To many European nations, Christianity represented western civilization and the basis for Anglo-Saxon morality. It is often said that missionaries from Europe during the colonial days came down from Europe to Africa in their quest of spreading Christianity on a According to a 2007 Pew Report, 78% of Blacks in America identify as Protestant while a 2011 report by Pew notes that nearly 24% of Christians live in Sub-Saharan Africa. century before this religion had really taken root anywhere in So what happened was a situation where the Africans were taught to hate everything African and to accept the European way of living. Before colonialism, sub-Saharan Africa was a subsistence economy; because of colonialism it became a monetized economy. But long before colonialism and slavery, Africans were practicing Christianity. Entertainment Copyright © 1994 - 2020 GhanaWeb. International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church 8(4), 275-289. 1991. “Jerusalem long lost or not, Christianity is Afro-orient, not European. But until the turn of the century the number of Christian converts was not very impressive. While some slaveholders encouraged conversion to Christianity, others did not. 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The two largest colonial powers in Africa were France and Britain, both of which controlled two-thirds of Africa before World War I and more than 70 percent after the war (see Table 4.1). The Christian faith occupies a complicated, often racialized place in the history of Blacks all over the globe because of how it was abused by White colonists and slave traders to subjugate Blacks. But when Europeans penetrated Sub-Saharan Africa in the 16th Century, ultimately mining the region for Africans to enslave, the historical narrative shifts which is perhaps why many associate the religion most with Europeans to this day. EKECHI CHRISTIAN missionary attempts to convert the Igbos to Christianity began in 1857. Would it have been richer today? and features to European missionaries especially from Portugal, France, Britain, and Germany went to Africa under the premise of going to convert the locals to Christianity. Christianity reportedly arrived in North Africa in the latter part of 1st century AD/early part of the 2nd, while “the adoption of Christianity in Ethiopia dates to the fourth-century,” according to findings by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Even though Christianity was able to spread from the northern part of Africa to the eastern part (Ethiopia), the complete spread of the religion to all part of the continent was made impossible due to the advancement of Islam in the northern part of the Health The West Africa region had griots, wandering human encyclopaedias who were capable of recalling events and people long-long passed. Chat with us via WhatsApp on +233 55 2699 625. but lacked the theoretical base. By 1900, when the force of the quick colonization was over, the majority of the land in Africa was divided up amongst seven different European colonizing nations: Britain, France, Spain, … But long before colonialism and slavery, Africans were practicing Christianity. [ Links ] Good, CM. News before the advent of colonization and the coming of European Some recent developments in African Christianity. Would Africa’s economic development have been different without colonialism? However, there is ample Send your news stories to Pioneer medical missions in colonial Africa. Christianity in Africa goes back to the earliest days of the church, when it spread along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coastlands of north and northeast Africa and their hinterlands. Christianity was the religion of the Westerners. “On the one hand, well, Whites wanted to use Christianity to make slaves docile and obedient. I will speak about Sub Saharan Africa and more particularly Southern Africa. This article examines different paradigms of conversions to Christianity in regions of Africa prior to the advent of colonial modernity. During colonialism roads were built. continent. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by one’s ethnic identity, where one's family came from in Africa. Gifford, P. 1994. Your email address will not be published. “The first Black senator elected to Congress was the Reverend Hiram Revels of Mississippi, an AME clergyman. In the early centuries the decadent, pre-Christian morality made Christianity more acceptable. The introduction of the article highlights how much of a problem this is. Gender & Sexuality, Faith/Spirituality But long before colonialism and slavery, Africans were practicing Christianity. There are plenty of objections which have been raised against Christianity over the centuries. Indigenous African religions are by nature plural, varied, and usually informed by one’s ethnic identity, where one’s family came from in … Later, Nat Turner led a bloody slave revolt while Denmark Vesey plotted one, both citing Christian visions as their motivation. . “They were looking at the Bible and what the Bible meant within the context of the African-American experience,” she says. The period from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s marked the zenith of imperial rule in Africa. “The leaders of black churches, the clergy, originally came from African priests, and so they were looked upon as leaders of the community.” He adds, “At least in the 19th century, they were the most educated of the community. TV & Film, Entertainment If you want to know more or withdraw your consent to all or some of the cookies, please refer to the privacy policy. This was the original model of colonialism brought by the Dutch in 1652, and subsequently exported from the Western Cape to the Afrikaner Republics of the Orange Free State and the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek. This is standard fare found in the writings of those who dislike Christianity. By closing this banner, scrolling on this page, clicking a link or continuing to browse otherwise, you agree to the use of cookies. site = "ghanaweb.com"; “Ashe to Amen” will be on display through May 26th at the Museum of Biblical Art in New York before traveling to the Reginald F. Lewis Museum in Baltimore and the Dixon Gallery and Gardens in Memphis, Tennessee. Lifestyle, This Easter, over two billion Christians around the world will celebrate "the Resurrection of Christ," and a large percentage of them will be Black. It cannot be said that Christianity is a colonial relic or symbolism of slavery since evidentially the existence of the religion precede colonization. In this light we may realize the obstacles offered by colonialism to the cause of Christianity. Before 1667, baptism was a legal ticket to freedom. missionaries. Meanwhile, Christian abolitionists argued that slavery defied the teachings of the Bible. It will devote attention both to traditional religions of Africa and to the growth and development of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the continent as a whole. Because Christ came from their corner of the world, Africans had embraced Christianity at a time when the religion was struggling to take root in Greece and Rome.” Princess of K’orinda-Yimbo. Before colonialism, there were only bush back roads through which men trekked with goods on their backs. The Egyptian church is traditionally believed to be founded by Saint Mark at around AD 42. The Bible also documents the conversion of an Ethiopian eunuch as the early church was forming. Important Africans who influenced the early development of Christianity include Tertullian, Perpetua, Felicity, Clement of Alexandria Dictionary of African Christian Biography "...an international project of biographies of "....Africans chiefly responsible for laying the foundations and advancing the growth of Christian communities in Africa." In the 4th century, the Aksumite empire in modern-day Eritrea and Ethiopia became one of the first regions in the world to adopt Christianity as an official religion and the Nubian kingdoms of Nobatia, Makuria and Alodia followed two centuries later. They were the custodians of history. Christianity’s explosion across Africa led many to call for the Vatican to select a successor to Pope Benedict from the Continent with Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson among the suggested shortlist. The limitations in the knowledge about what existed in Africa before colonial invasion can be attributed to lack of documentation to verify that knowledge and skills did exist in Africa long before what is known today. They never had the kind of orientation or interpretation that came from White teachers and White preachers because they were so much involved with pursuing literacy as an act of resistance.” King-Hammond continues, “[The White slaveholders] didn’t want them to learn how to read… However, Africans did learn to read, and they did learn to write, and they did learn how to preach; and they created their own church.”, The Black church has historically doubled as a religious institution and harvest center for social and political activism. This was even before the continent got into contact with representatives of the civilized North. [On the other hand,] the Africans adapted Christianity for their survival and liberation.”. Christianity in Africa arrived in Egypt in the middle of the 1st century. The colonial governments used Christianity to entrench oppression in Africa. Due to the Victorian concept of women held by colonialists, African women were excluded from the new religious, political, and socioeconomic systems. And it is obvious the missionaries had Western values embedded in them. Journal of African History, xn, i (1971), pp. It is recognizable that historically Christianity came to Sub-Sahara Africa in the 15th century but that cannot over shadow the fact that Christianity was already on the continent before the coming of colonial imperialist. “What you see in ‘Ashe to Amen’ is a trail of visual artists of African descent who are in the intersection of their African world belief systems, which they brought with them, and the intersection of what happens when they connected with Christianity.”, She reflects, “It is a show that talks about the resiliency, the tenaciousness of people who have prevailed through centuries of time to still stand tall, and proud, and fearless.”. We have already mentioned Egypt’s literacy, Ethiopia was also literate and even had poetic forms such as the Qene and Mawandes as early as 1BC, predating Christianity and Islam, nullifying the possibility of having been … They said colonialism was the will of God. But long before colonialism and slavery, Africans were practicing Christianity. document.write(user + '@' + site + ''); During the late 19 th century, European nations increasingly vied for global power. I do not want to dwell on this one. user = "features"; Yes it did but not in Sub Saharan Africa. 103-115 103 Printed in Great Britain COLONIALISM AND CHRISTIANITY IN WEST AFRICA: THE IGBO CASE, 1900-19151 BY F.K. Christianity being introduced to the horn of Africa clearly is not as a result of missionary work of Europeans. By the end of the 2nd century it had reached the region around Carthage. And you’ll see that tradition continue.” He cites Reverend Jesse Jackson, Sr. and Reverend Al Sharpton who both ran for President, Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. who was pastor of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, Pennsylvania politician Reverend Bill Gray, and former Congressman Reverend Floyd Flake, as examples. And so they emerged as political leaders…after the Civil War. OLUPONA: Indigenous African religions refer to the indigenous or native religious beliefs of the African people before the Christian and Islamic colonization of Africa. Most often both academic and non-intellectuals based on historical understanding conclude that Europeans brought or introduced Christianity to Africa. African Affairs 93(373), 513-534. “As of the 7th to 8th century, African warriors were fighting in Europe under the banner of the lion and the half-moon in order to bring the truth faith, Christianity or Islam, to Europe. Fact that is widely held by church historians is that Christianity is christianity in africa before colonialism, European. Or Bechuanaland as it was called think of Christianity as `` the White man 's religion ``. Traditionally believed to be founded by Saint Mark ’ s economic development have been raised Christianity... The Igbos to Christianity began christianity in africa before colonialism South Africa in 1652, came the slavery Forced! 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