Book Review - Early Christianity in North Africa

Journal of Early Christian Studies, 2011

Reviews in Religion & Theology, 2013

2021

African Christianity is considerably older than the English, French, Portuguese, and German languages. African Christianity had been established as authentic African expressions of faith for centuries before the rise of Islam. There are churches in sub-Saharan Africa with a continuous 1700-year history. We should know, and celebrate, the stories of African Christianity. These titles deal with the histories of African Christianity. For contemporary realities of Christianity in African contexts, see my companion “Africa and Africans in World Christianity” bibliography. For African Christianity within the Roman Empire, only a few select titles are included, as traditional Western treatments of Christian history generally cover that time period thoroughly. This bibliography has three parts. The first includes general histories from antiquity to the present together with bibliographies. This includes selected texts from the vast literature on the patristic era in North Africa and Egypt. The second is for histories of African Christianity prior to 1500. The second is for histories of African Christianity after after 1500. As there can be some overlap, some titles are be listed in more than one category. [latest revision, 15 November 2024]

Vigiliae Christianae, 2014

Verbum et ecclesia, 2009

In this article, the author challenges the popular public conception that Christianity in Africa is a latecomer introduced only with the advent of colonialism. By tracing the origins of the Christian faith in both North and sub-Saharan Africa (including, North-Central and West Africa), this paper seeks to show that Christianity has been in Africa virtually since its inception and that the continent's own adherents to this faith played an important role in the formation and advance of Christianity elsewhere. Moreover, Christianity in Africa can be found almost everywhere on the continent and indigenous varieties of the tradition developed which allowed it to become as part of Africa as African traditional religions.

E-Journal of Religious and Theological Studies (ERATS), 2020

This article is devoted to a thematic analysis of early or ancient African Christianity and its influence on ecclesial practices and thinking in contemporary Africa. Drawing on literature in the history of the church in antiquity this paper re-tells the story of how Africa and Africans in the first millennium developed and shaped World Christianity. Specifically, it discusses the contributions made to the early Church by the African Fathers of the faith, Origen and Augustine. The paper contest sentiments and perceptions that Christianity is a "white mans" religion and to reclaim African Christianity's identity as a global religious culture which has existed since antiquity. Moreover, it argues that a lot is lost, with its attendant misinterpretations, when Christianity in Africa is only viewed as a result of the fruits of the nineteenth-century missionary activities. The paper contributes to the study of African Church history, the contextualisation/inculturation of the gospel, and African theology.

2010

International Review of Mission, 2018

2016

Bolaji Idowu, the former prelate and patriarch of the Methodist Church Nigeria, in his magnum opus, Olodumare: God in Yoruba Belief, 1 described Africans as, in essence, "incurably religious." In that work, Professor Idowu called attention to the fact that, for Africans, religion is synonymous with life itself, because they believe that virtually every event within their environment has religious or spiritual overtones. John Mbiti, another outstanding doyen in the study of religions in Africa, began his introduction to the classic African Religions and Philosophy with the words: "Africans are notoriously religious." 2 Indeed, while the western world increasingly regards its context as secular and scientific, the people of Africa have always considered their environment to be otherworldly and spiritual. This conviction is illustrated in the growth of religions such as Christianity throughout Africa. Expressions of African religiosity have spread throughout Europe and the Americas. African-led churches are becoming increasingly conspicuous and are growing at a tremendous rate while European mainstream churches are in decline. For these reasons, scholars of world Christianity maintain that now, more than ever before, Christianity, which was formerly considered the religion of the Global North-of Europe and North America-has become the religion of the Global South-that of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Africa in Early Church History The history of the Early Church bears witness to the fact that Christianity is not foreign to the African continent. Indeed, Christianity arrived in North Africa in the early centuries. By the middle of the third century, the Roman provinces of North Africa had become a flourishing mission territory with a relatively high concentration of dioceses and bishops. Undoubtedly, it was a dynamic, vigorous, and productive church. 3 The later decline and ultimate disappearance of North African Christianity can be traced to its relative

EUNDAN PUBLISHERS, 2019

The article below summarizes the development of both Islam and Christianity in Africa at large by focusing in each division of Africa sch as North Africa, West Africa, south Africa, eastern Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa. The work was done by Professor in history Daniel Mutuva Agwata who is also doing mass research on the continent of Africa and the world at Large.