[77][78] The largest church auditorium, Glory Dome, was inaugurated in 2018 with 100,000 seats, in Abuja, Nigeria.[79]. Humility in learning from others and working together. When independence dawned in 1960, Christianity below the Sahara was no longer merely a European import. [19]:26 Christianity continued to exist after the Muslim conquests. Yet it remained defiantly Christian even as Islam spread across the region. [2] The factors and processes that led to the Islamization of these regions, as well as the speed at which conversions happened, is a complex subject. 3. Later, the religion spread to other African countries including Sudan, Ethiopia, and other African kingdoms. Further south, Christianity was introduced later by European Christian missions, initially on the heels of Portuguese expansion into the Kingdom of the Kongo and Angola in the 16th century, the slave trade in the ensuing centuries, and the general expansion of European influence and colonialism in the 19th and 20th centuries in an explosive Christianity spread rapidly in southern Africa after the start of the 1800s. They are mostly of Pentecostal denominations. Christian communities had spread throughout North Africa. The P'ent'ay churches are however works of a Protestant reformation within Ethiopian Christianity. By the fourth century, monasticism became a powerful force in evangelism and discipleship, although at times it was disruptive. According to Ethiopian tradition, Christianity first came to the Aksum Empire in the fourth century A.D. when a Greek-speaking missionary named Frumentius converted King Ezana. // Africa Study Bible, 5 Biblical Principles Regarding Money // Africa Study Bible. Religion and Political Culture in Africa.. By the 1990s, charismatic Christianity had transformed the face of many Christian traditions in Africa. [72], A 2015 study estimates 2,161,000 Christian believers are from a formerly Muslim background in Africa, most of them belonging to some form of Protestantism. "Gospel Riches, Africa's rapid embrace of prosperity Pentecostalism provokes concern and hope", See "Ecclesiastical Cartography and the Invisible Continent: The Dictionary of African Christian Biography" at, World Council of Churches Report, August 2004, Latin America has the second-highest number of Christians, were executed under the Islamic death penalty, Moses and his Ethiopian wife Zipporah (Mozes en zijn Ethiopische vrouw Sippora), Eastern Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and all Africa, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of Christian denominations by number of members, Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan, Church of Christ in CongoAnglican Community of Congo, Reformed Evangelical Anglican Church of South Africa, Evangelical Baptist Church of the Central African Republic, Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa, Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia, Church of Christ in CongoPresbyterian Community of Congo, Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa, Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (NGK), Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa, Church of Christ in the Sudan Among the Tiv, Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola, United Congregational Church of Southern Africa, General Council of the Assemblies of God Nigeria, Eternal Sacred Order of Cherubim and Seraphim, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "Conversion, Exemption, and Manipulation: Social Benefits and Conversion to Islam in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages", "Refworld | World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples Egypt: Copts of Egypt", Syncretism/Anti-Syncretism: The Politics of Religious Synthesis, "Christianity 2018: More African Christians and Counting Martyrs", "Africa overtakes Latin America for the highest Christian population", "The rapid growth of Christianity in Africa | Catholic Star Herald", Ancient African Christianity: An Introduction to a Unique Context and Tradition, "The Disappearance of Christianity from North Africa in the Wake of the Rise of Islam", A History of the Crusades, Volume 1: The First Crusade and the Foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, "Introduction: Christian Martyrs under Islam", "Les dernires communauts chrtiennes autochtones d'Afrique du Nord", "The Last Christians Of North-West Africa: Some Lessons For Orthodox Today", "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census | Duane A Miller Botero - Academia.edu", "International Religious Freedom Report for 2015", http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/morocco#/?affiliations_religion_id=0&affiliations_year=2010®ion_name=All%20Countries&restrictions_year=2013, "Converted Christians in Morocco Need Prayers", International Religious Freedom Report 2010: Tunisia, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, "The Perilous Path from Muslim to Christian", "Ironies of Christian Presence in Southern Africa", "What happened in Africa after the pandemic of 1918", "Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census", World's Largest Church Auditorium Dedicated in Nigeria, "The World Factbook Central Intelligence Agency", "International Religious Freedom Report 2010: Liberia", "The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050", "Almost expunged: Somalia's Embattled Christians", http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/SAStatistics/SAStatistics2012.pdf, "Table: Religious Composition by Country, in Numbers", "Table: Religious Composition by Country, in Percentages", "CIA Site Redirect Central Intelligence Agency", "2020 Report on International Religious Freedom: Tunisia", Zambia - 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Classifying African Christianities: Past, Present, and Future: Part One. Journal of Religion in Africa, vol. This story can be told in four overlapping waves. Who Is Anointed By God? The history of Christianity in Africa probably began during the earthly ministry of Jesus Christ, two thousand years ago. [145], The population of Pentecostal Christians is around 20.292 million in 2015, being 35.32 percent of the continent's Christian population. The Jesuits went largely unchallenged by rival denominational missions in Africa. Within and near the Aksumite ruins, the archaeologists also found a diverse array of goods, from a delicate gold and carnelian ring with the image of a bulls head to nearly 50 cattle figurinesclearly evidence of pre-Christian beliefs. [6] The Ethiopian church held its own distinct religious customs and a unique canon of the Bible. // Africa Study Bible, Why I Cant Believe in Spirit Husbands and Spirit Wives, The History of Christianity in Africa // Africa Study Bible, When She Cant See The Loving Hand of God, African Christianity Thrived, Long Before White Men Arrived, Witchcraft, Spiritual Powers & New Life in Christ Jesus. Evangelical Christianity has been described as a fourfold commitment to the Bible, the cross, conversion, and mission. Axum was the first African. Many of the converts are baptized secretly in Morocco's churches. [9], Today, Christianity is embraced by the majority of the population in most Southern African, Southeast African, and Central African states and others in large parts of Horn of Africa and West Africa. Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond, writing at Ebony, breaks down the relationship between more than 78 percent of African Americans and their religion. Today, almost half of the African population are Christians. Christianity originated with the ministry of Jesus, a Jewish teacher and healer who proclaimed the imminent kingdom of God and was crucified c. AD 30-33 in Jerusalem in the Roman province of Judea. However, the spread of Christianity in Africa is mostly attributed to Mark the Evangelist who is reported to have brought the religion to Alexandria, Egypt. Cf. Christianity started to spread to Africa. Marie Claire Rubio, the wife of late Ghana's soccer player Christian Atsu, lays a wreath during his funeral at the State House in Accra, Ghana, Friday, March 17, 2023. Egyptian Christianity grew and spread. But . The fifteenth century was a turning point when Catholicism from Portugal circled the continent. [12] The study also states that Latin America has the second-highest number of Christians at 601 million Christians, while Europe has the third-highest with 571 million Christians. A letter in Catholic Church archives from the 14th century shows that there were still four bishoprics left in North Africa, admittedly a sharp decline from the over four hundred bishoprics in existence at the time of the Arab conquest. Movements such as Donatism in the fourth century considered imperial Christianity, which owed its allegiance to Rome, as exploitative and compromising. Within the Kimbanguist church, Simon Kimbangu questioned the order of religious deliverance- would God send a white man to preach? Important Africans who influenced the early development of Christianity include Tertullian, Perpetua, Felicity, Clement of Alexandria, Origen of Alexandria, Cyprian, Athanasius and Augustine of Hippo. What Does It Mean? Any attempt to label Christianity as a white mans religion or European religion should be rejected. Who brought Christianity to South Africa? It has about 30% of the worlds evangelicals, 20% of the worlds Pentecostals and charismatics, and about 15% of the worlds Roman Catholics. The common practice of placing crosses and crucifixes in churches was viewed as a graven image in their eyes or a form of idolatry. The bishopric of Marrakesh continued to exist until the late 16th century and was borne by the suffragans of Seville. Theological orthodoxy became identified with political loyalty that would mark the church for centuries. of Ghana, Uganda) and audio files of African-Jewish music. Important popular Christian movements also flourished, motivated in Ethiopia by Syrian monastic missionaries, known to tradition as the nine saints, and in Nubia by Jewish converts. The Jesuits found themselves expelled from Mozambique and Angola, as a result, the existence of Catholic missions diminished significantly in these regions. B.C.E. Several syncretistic and messianic sections have formed throughout much of the continent, including the Nazareth Baptist Church in South Africa and the Aladura churches in Nigeria. View the discussion recorded on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, with Rev. This improvement was caused partly because of Christian morality; partly because of the growing Germanic population, which had few slaves; and partly because the declining Roman military power was producing fewer captives to enslave. Sierra Leone, a West African colony for freed slaves, was founded in 1787. Many of the newly elected presidents of independent African nations had graduated from missionary schools and were affiliated with specific Christian denominations. Polygamy was a topic of debate- many literate Africans interpreted it as acceptable because of information contained in the Old Testament- while it was condemned by European Christianity. Today, most Christians in Africa have been touched in some way by Pentecostal teaching. Lalibela, the greatest emperor of the Zagwe dynasty, built eleven famous stone churches carved out of solid rock to create a new Jerusalem. But not everyone was happy with the Zagwe kings, and by 1225 the History of the Kings appeared as a protest. Slave traders and missionaries wrestled with one another for the souls of Africans. The challenge by Islam and African traditional religions deepened the faith of believers. The influenza pandemic of 1918 accelerated the Africanization of Christianity and hence its growth in twentieth century Africa. The Origin of Christianity in Africa: Christianity in Africa dates all the way back to the early 1 st century AD. Only nine million Christians were in Africa in 1900, but by the year 2000, there were an estimated 380 million Christians. In 2009, when Pope Benedict XVI visited Africa, it was estimated at 158million. He started the Coptic Orthodox Church in Alexandria, Egypt. Africa is one of the most dynamic centres of Christianity in the world. [23][24] In the lands west of Egypt, the Church at that time lacked the backbone of a monastic tradition and was still suffering from the aftermath of heresies including the so-called Donatist heresy, and one theory proposes this as a factor that contributed to the early obliteration of the Church in the present day Maghreb. By the early 1990s, new nations had a new desire to work with the church. According to a 2006 Pew Forum on Religion and Public life study, 147 million African Christians were "renewalists" (Pentecostals and Charismatics). Although there are no confirmed reports that this eunuch became an evangelist, many believe he took the religion to Africa and sowed the first seed of Christianity. Theological orthodoxy became identified with political loyalty and caused splits that would mark the church for centuries. Feb 15, 2023 Christianity is the major religion in numerous African countries. [citation needed], Local Christians came under pressure when the Muslim regimes of the Almohads and Almoravids came into power, and the record shows demands made that the local Christians of Tunis convert to Islam. [46], Before the independence in 1956; Morocco was home to half a million Europeans, mostly Christians. [7] He began working with the Khoi-Khoi tribe. At this time, the Bishop of Alexandria began to be called Pope, as the senior bishop in Egypt. Coup leaders eventually gave way to multiparty politics. [48] In 1950, Catholics in Spanish protectorate in Morocco and Tangier constitute 14.5% of the population, and the Spanish Morocco was home to 113,000 Catholic settlers. Over the next thousand years, Christianity in Ethiopia grew stronger while in Nubia it declined. The powerful African church is coming to maturity in the twenty-first century. 817839. Prayers and sacrificial offerings are usually directed toward secondary divinities, who are intermediaries between the human and sacred realms. [45] In that wilaya, the proportion of Christians has been estimated to be between 1% and 5%. Yale University historian Lamin Sanneh stated that "African Christianity was not just an exotic, curious phenomenon in an obscure part of the world, but that African Christianity might be the shape of things to come. Advertising Notice The early Roman churches were dominated and led by Jewish disciples of Jesus. Some experts predict the shift of Christianity's center from the European industrialized nations to Africa and Asia in modern times. Christianity had reached Egypt by the third century A.D., but it was not until Constantines legalization of Christian observance that the church expanded widely across Europe and the Near East. Many Christians fled from the towns into the desert. Samson Fatokun. Religion and Political Culture in Africa. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. A 2015 study estimates 380,000 Muslims converted to Christianity in Algeria. 1, 2010, pp. The use of copper, a valued import from Europe, reinforced the association with wealth and power. Boldness in proclaiming our vibrant faith to the world. But among the Christian population there is significant and sustained syncretism with traditional African religions, affecting churches even at leadership levels and flowing down to regular daily faith practice among congregants. 13, Brill, LEIDEN; BOSTON, 2018, pp. [23] In addition, the Romans and the Byzantines were unable to completely assimilate the indigenous people like the Berbers. Atsu, who played for Premier . Persecution deepened the commitment of believers in Africa and gave them courage to witness to an increasingly sympathetic African audience. Christianity arrived in South Africa with settlers from Europe, starting with Jan van Riebeeck in 1652, when Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC, Dutch East India Company) authorized him to establish a post to resupply food and fuel to ships traveling between the Netherlands and Southeast and South Asia. By 1500, Christianity in Nubia all but disappeared. 2 This history is well described by Fatokun (2005) in his essay,. The African was taught to abhor everything African and to accept a new way of living, a new way of life, a new order that alienated them from who they originally were. This Easter, over two billion Christians around the . Evolving into the Christ Apostolic Church, it gave rise to many offshoots, which continued to emerge into the 1950s spreading with migrants around the world. [175], 60 million people are members of African-initiated churches.[180]. Kongo kings, having adopted Christianity as the state religion, commissioned locally made crucifixes for use as emblems of leadership and power. This second trend has seen African Christians move around the world in migration and mission. The churches there were linked to the Church of Rome and provided Pope Gelasius I, Pope Miltiades and Pope Victor I, all of them Christian Berbers like Saint Augustine and his mother Saint Monica. IV asked emirs of Tunis, Ceuta and Bugia to permit Lope and Franciscian friars to look after the Christians in those regions. Many were martyred for their faith, including the American medical missionary Paul Carlson, who was killed by rebel insurgents in 1964 in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Gospel Coalition exists to equip the next generation of believers, pastors, and church leaders to shape life and ministry around the gospel. Perhaps 40 percent of Ugandans are Catholic, 32 percent Anglican, and 13 percent Protestant. [27][28][29], From the Muslim conquest of Egypt onwards, the Coptic Christians were persecuted by different Muslim regimes. They were recognised as forming the Moroccan Church by Pope Innocent IV. The kingdom began its decline in the eighth and ninth centuries, eventually contracting to control only the Ethiopian highlands. But perhaps the most surprising thing that helped Christianity grow was persecution. This is a trend sometimes described as reverse mission. That trade, by camel, donkey and boat, channeled silver, olive oil and wine from the Mediterranean to cities along the Indian Ocean, which in turn brought back exported iron, glass beads and fruits. Liberia, founded for free-born American blacks in 1822, played a similar role. Juan de Prado who had attempted to re-establish the mission was killed in 1631. Christian schools did teach English, as well as mathematics, philosophy, and values inherent to Western culture and civilization. By 1990, the country has more than 6,000 independent African pentecostal churches (Anderson 2000; Anderson 2001: 95-97). The discoveries at Beta Samati provide a welcome glimpse into the rise of Africas first Christian kingdomand, he hopes, will spark a new round of Aksum-related excavations. Protestantism is the largest Christian group in Africa, with 35.9% (more than a half) in sub-Saharan Africa. Unlike that of Islam, Christian missionaries were compelled to spread an understanding of their gospel in the native language of the indigenous people they sought to convert. The bible was then translated and communicated in these native languages. Archaeologists now can more closely date when the religion spread to the Aksumite Empire. The first Christian mission at Genadendal, South Africa. Christianity was well-established as a major religion in the Roman Empire. [2] Up until the Fatimid period (10th to 12th centuries), Christians likely still constituted a majority of the population, although scholarly estimates on this issue are tentative and vary between authors. Missionary expeditions undertaken by the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) began as early as 1548 in various regions of Africa. [55], Before the independence in 1956; Tunisia was home to 255,000 Europeans, mostly Christians. The commitment of the missionaries to Africa is illustrated by the many who took their coffins with them when they travelled from their homelands, knowing that their lifespan would probably be short. Its capital alternated between Gudu, Sokoto, Birnin Konni, Sokoto, and Burmi. Missionaries largely condemned the controversial African views and worked against leaders branching out. [16] At first the church in Alexandria was mainly Greek-speaking. Some new Pentecostal churches began preaching a message of healing and power. [41] After the end of Reconquista, the Christian Portuguese and Spanish captured many ports in North Africa.[42]. But the key moment in early Christianity in North Africa was in the late third century when there was rapid growth, in part due to the conversion of many people in large Jewish communities. The Jesuit's ascendency to prominence began with the padroado in the fifteenth century and continued until other European countries initiated missions of their own, threatening Portugal's status as sole patron of the continent. 1130. [5][32][33], There are reports that the Roman Catholic faith persisted in the region from Tripolitania (present-day western Libya) to present-day Morocco for several centuries after the completion of the Arab conquest by 700. Mkenda, Festo. Therefore, the church grew and expanded as a largely Gentile community from . But in spite of these connections, many ruled in a way that promoted themselves as saviours of their countries. Sunni Africans were largely against the Ahmadiyyas; the Ahmadiyyas were the first to translate the Quran into Swahili, and the Sunnis opposed that as well. The concept of Ubuntu illustrates the point that the African Christians have started to assert their spiritual autonomy from the west because it has allowed there to be connections made between Christianity and Africa's unique cultural traditions. So their mission was to "civilize" the African. The discovery of the church and its contents confirm Ethiopian tradition that Christianity arrived at an early date in an area nearly 3,000 miles from Rome. Jews in Africa. Zara Yaqob also purged Ethiopia of African traditional religion. In Uganda, Christianity was new in 1900, but has since become the dominant religion. Many people today, both in Africa and elsewhere, tend to believe that the introduction of Christianity to the continent is a relatively recent phenomenon. This book purported to tell the story of Solomon and the queen of Sheba and their son Menelik, first king of Ethiopia. Today, nearly half of all Ethiopians are members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. [44] Under French rule, the Catholic population of Algeria peaked at over one million. "[15], Mark the Evangelist became the first bishop of the Alexandrian Patriarchate in about the year 43. Copyright 2023 The Gospel Coalition, INC. All Rights Reserved, Livestream: Zambia Reformed Family Conference 2020, Are Dreams and Visions Messages from God? 2009, Verbum et ecclesia. The new era of African missions is still in its infancy. They viewed Africans as backward, barbaric and uncivilized. Christianity spread across North Africa early, and it remained there as a powerful force much longer than anticipated. 53, no. Great nineteenth-century British leaders such as William Wilberforce (member of the British parliament and champion of anti-slavery legislation), Thomas Clarkson (leader of the anti-slavery society in England), and Granville Sharp (English abolitionist) did much good. This was during a period when the 'Back to Africa Movement' was prevalent amongst freed enslaved people in the US and the Caribbean. [8] The bishopric of Marrakesh continued to exist until the late 16th century. But his regime disintegrated in a coup in 1966. Yet it promises that the story of Christianity in Africa, begun in a quiet corner of Alexandria, Egypt in the first century, is now a global movement changing the world. Ancient African Christianity was basically confined to Northern AfricaEgypt, Nubia, and Ethiopia. They read portions of Psalms because of the idea that missionaries were not sharing the power of their faith. Denominational missions and faith missions such as the Africa Inland Mission, Sudan Interior Mission, Sudan United Mission, and the South Africa General Mission (later the Africa Evangelical Fellowship) influenced African societies.

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