AFRICA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A WESTERN RELIGION
BY
BERNARD KARIUKI KIMANISTUDENT NUMBER 07026
A PAPER PRESENTED TO DR.STEVE MORAD
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE: HS 505 AFRICAN CHURCH HISTORY
NAIROBI, KENYA
June 29th , 2009.
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Introduction.
This paper is going to be built around challenge of Christianity as a foreign religion. The
issue contested here is the authenticity of Christian faith for Africans. In a sense, we are
wrestling with the claim that Christianity is too white and foreign and that it is a religious
expression of colonialism. This research essay is going to respond to this challenge in a
scholarly manner. As such, the aim will be to respond by looking for facts and evidence that
Christianity was not an import of the west to Africa or an imposition in the African Christian
thought neither was it a camouflage of Western imperialists.
Thesis
Traditional Christianity in its historic manifestation has been predominantly western and has
demonstrated aggressive, superior, colonial and imperialistic attitudes. The tendency to
uphold colonial powers as part of God’s plan has been evident in the missionary agenda. As a
matter of fact, it is hard to differentiate the two. This has led to the condemnation of local
religion and religious systems in preference for the Christian foreign religion1. Ngugi wa
Thiongo referred to the missionaries as the “colonial spiritual police”2 while amplifying on
the great connection between colonial imperialism and the missionary enterprise. However,
as much as one should not be blind to the mistakes done in the early days of the spread of
Christianity in Africa, we must come to terms with both historical facts and other instances
that show that Christianity is indeed an African religion. The thesis of this paper is that
Christianity is not and never was a western religion, neither was it imposed on Africans by
the westerners. Africans chose to believe the gospel. Whether the missionaries brought the
gospel in their cultural wrappings is another issue altogether which should not be equated
with trying to establish the authenticity of Christianity as either African or western.1 Campbell-Jack Campbell and Gavin J. McGrath, New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2006), 46.
2 J.N.K. Mugambi. Critiques of Christianity in African Literature (Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers, 1992), 34.
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Arguments that support the thesis
The following ideas help to clarify that Christianity is not a foreign religion or an import of
the west which was imposed on Africans:
First, Africans chose to believe the gospel.
Although becoming a Christian meant imitating the ways of living of the missionary, the
missionary himself did not expose his culture completely to the African catechumens and
catechists’3.When he would speak with fellow European missionaries, he would adopt their
culture but when mixed with Africans he would adapt the methods to fit the ways ‘primitive’
Africans could understand4. In that sense, we cannot say that westerners imposed their culture
on Africans. Again, it would be too far fetched for Ngugi wa Thiongo to claim that
‘Christianity brought only confusion to the African community’5. That would be too
simplistic and not looking at the issue from all vantage points. This is especially so because
coupled with the ills performed by the missionaries, the education system, which Wa
Thiongo is representative of, even today, grew out of the missionary endeavors not to
mention the infrastructural developments. The bone of contention here is not the modality of
bringing the Christian message —which is perhaps the reason why Christianity is referred as
being too white—as to whether actually anyone was forced to accept it or they merely chose
to follow it. Even though there were few missionaries who chose not to represent God and
instead chose Christianity as a vehicle for European inculturation—which is indeed
regrettable— we should not be blind to the scores of others who risked their lives and made a
lasting contribution to the African society.
Second, there was indigenous reception of the Gospel.
3 Ibid. 101.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid., 102
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Africans had an indigenous reception of the gospel which they also transmitted to their fellow
Africans whole heartedly. There was overwhelming response to the message of Christ from
the freed slave colonies of Freetown, Sierra Leone and Monrovia, Liberia. A good example
was the effort of Anglican’s first African Bishop, Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a Nigerian who
was instrumental to the spread of the Gospel in the South and Niger-Delta areas of Nigeria.
We can say the same thing of Afonso of Congo and Desmond Tutu of South Africa. In fact, it
has been claimed that for every missionary in Africa, there were ten African catechists and
village evangelists providing local leadership and evangelizing fellow Africans6. Again, As
Mbiti alludes, Christianity is indigenous to Africa because it is “a response to the gospel not
an imitation of the conduct of the missionaries.”7As such, Christianity is “neither a visitor nor
a tourist in Africa”8.
Third, Christianity is distinct from Colonialism.
Ngugi wa Thiongo gave the story of Dr. Irvin, a Presbyterian who worked in Meru, eastern
Kenya who wrote a small book called How to behave. The book was a manual to show how
“civilized” and “Christianized” Africans should behave in all circumstances to show that they
had become civilized and Christians9. This could in a sense say that Africans were
brainwashed into western Christianity. If we follow this argument, Christianity and
Colonization would be synonymous which would be a myopic rendering of the mission
enterprise of that era. Again, “Christianity was shaped in Africa by clear minded church
fathers like Tertullian, Origen, Anthony and Cyprian in North Africa. Anthony (d. 356) was
the father of monasticism and Christian religious piety. Tertullian was a trained lawyer whose
skill “especially distinguished [him] in Rome.” He was described as possessing a “sharp and
6 Mark Shaw, (Ed). Popular Objections, Powerful Answers (Nairobi: NEGST, 2008), 92.
7 J.S. Mbiti in Mugambi, Critiques of Christianity in African Literature, 67
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid., 102.
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violent talent.” Cyprian, on his part, was first a pagan rhetorician who had trusted the gods to
protect him from “black magic” before he became a Christian and put his trust in the power
of the Lord Jesus Christ. These were the African church fathers that Africanized the faith
from the very beginning. It is difficult to submit to the claim that all these bold and brave
believers were brainwashed by colonialists.”10 However, the dilemma of defending the
Christian faith without being associated with “sins” of colonialism has been a delicate task.
Most apologists have had to maintain the delicate balance between being Christians and not
being a part of the “Christian colonial” power11. Though the means by which Christianity
came to us seemed colonial, we cannot underestimate the strength of clear minded
missionaries whose agenda was simply and only Gospel propagation12.
Fourth, Christianity did not originate from the West. Early legends have it that“Ethiopian
Christianity dates back to the biblical contacts of the queen of Sheba (queen of the South)
who visited Solomon. The constitution of the late emperor Haile Selassie holds Ethiopian
kinship and priesthood to be the legitimate continuation of the Solomonic dynasty and
Aaronic priesthood. The queen was identified as Makeda of Aksum who conceived a son by
Solomon, called Menelik I. Menelik was brought to Jerusalem to be educated, after which
Solomon sent him back to Ethiopia”13. Westerners received Christianity just like Africans
did. Modern Western Christianity evolved from African "seeds”. Historically, the claim that
Christianity is a foreign religion is then challenged. Thomas Oden14 leads the attack on this
10 Shaw, Popular Objections, Powerful Answers, 92
11 Campbell and McGrath, New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics, 46
12 Shaw, Popular Objections, Powerful Answers, 97.
13 Ibid. 91.
14 Thomas C. Oden. How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity (Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 2007), 42-56.
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premise. In his book, How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind, he gives seven ways Africa
could be considered the seedbed of western Christianity namely:
1) The western idea of the University was conceived in Alexandria.
2) Christian Exegesis (biblical interpretation) first matured in Africa.
3) African biblical interpreters powerfully shaped most of the important Christian
doctrines.
4) Africa was the region that first set the pattern and method for seeking wider
ecumenical consent on contested points of scripture.
5) The African desert gave birth to worldwide monasticism. Monasticism started
in the deserts of Egypt and eventually moved to Asia and Ireland. Africa also
had the influence of St. John Cassian, St. Augustine, and St. Pachomius.
6) Christian Neo-Platonism emerged from Africa.
7) Rhetorical and Dialectical Skills were sharpened in Africa for the Europe’s
benefit.
If we follow Oden’s argument, then it would be untenable to say that Christianity is a western
import for Africans. Thus, instead of viewing the Christianity introduced to Africa by
European and American missionaries as something foreign to African consciousness, it is
more accurate to appreciate that Western missionaries had been bringing home a (decadent)
offspring in desperate need of renewal.
If we compare the premises of African intellectuals like Ngugi wa Thiongo, we bemoan their
misguided condemnations of Christianity, because their minds, trained in the basic tenets of
modern Western secular thought, cannot see that Christianity is the religion of their ancestors
and, as such, a necessary basis for their own intellectual maturation. These intellectuals
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cannot lead the charge to reclaim Africa's intellectual legacy. This is especially tragic
considering that the ‘idea of a university was born in Africa’15.
Fifth, Biblical account shows a relationship between Africa and early Christianity. The
angel told Joseph to take the little child Jesus to Egypt at the outbreak of persecution by
Herod. In Cairo, they venerate a church built over the place where the Holy Family
supposedly dwelt during the sojourn in Egypt. The Ethiopian Eunuch that Philip baptized
could equally have contributed to the Gospel of Jesus in Africa long before Europe was
evangelized.
Sixth, The fact that Europeans brought Christianity does not make it white.
Commenting on this, I agree with the apologetics task force at NEGST who say:
It sounds as absurd as saying if one gives you milk in a black cup the milk will be
black. As a matter of fact, Jesus and the twelve apostles were Jews and not Europeans.
Jews from Asia did not colonize or Christianize Africa. The extreme labor of those
clear minded Africans who Christianized the continent and led the way for the foreign
missionaries’ incursion into the interior of Africa like Samuel Crowther, Afonso I and
Desmond Tutu cannot be overlooked. David Koi was Kenya’s first martyr for
courageously witnessing Christ to Bwana Isa. He was beheaded by the Arabs. At a
very high cost, the rule of Christ was instituted into the “individual, social and
national life” of the kingdoms of Toro, Ankole, Busoga, Teso, and Acholi by Apolo
Kivebulaya. Steve Biko, through his “Black theology” brought God and Christ into
partnership with the Black man and his daily problems. Contemporary African
Evangelicalism has among its founding fathers and leading contributors such
15 Oden, How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity, 46.
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theological voices as the late Byang Kato of Nigeria, late Kwame Bediako of Ghana,
Tite Tienou of Burkina Faso and many other promising voices of the 21st century16.
The zeal and tenacity with which the above individuals and others after them followed the
Christian faith indicates that they could not have given themselves too much for a mere
imposition. Much more importantly because when the Europeans went back to their countries
after independence in various countries, Christianity continued to thrive in many places
unperturbed. It has survived the Christendom guilt complex of the West and today thrives as
a post-Western religion in the global South. Not only has the population of Christians in the
South overtaken those in the North, this development also has had major implications for
world Christianity17.
Seventh, Christianity is a universal religion and cannot be encapsulated in race or color.
By declaring that Christianity is too white, we are assuming that God can be
compartmentalized to represent the ideas of a specific people group or race. Rather, Christian
faith in the one true God was meant to be a universal inheritance that no one culture can
claim ownership over. However, the God of the Bible is one that reveals himself in many
ways and that is the reason why the gospel is contextualized in many places to aid in more
understanding. Considering Israel and by extension what is observable today, we notice that:
God chose their language, experience and events to make himself known and be made
known to other cultures in their language and experience. As African Christians, we
are to follow these steps of God and the Jews and bring the truth of scriptures to bear
on varying cultures and beliefs. This is what the missionaries have attempted to do—
and it is what we are all commanded to do (Matt. 28:19–20). It is also the heartbeat of
God and the whole essence of the global missionary enterprise. Today, many Africans
16 Mark Shaw, The Kingdom of God in Africa (Katunayake: New Life, 2006), 224
17 See The Next Christendom by Phillip Jenkins.
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are preaching to the biggest congregations in the West and former Soviet Republic.
The biggest church in North London is pastored by a Nigerian. The same goes for the
largest congregation in Ukraine. A lady Kenyan is the pastor of Chicago Redeemed
Christian Church of God from Nigeria. Wouldn’t it be absurd for the white
congregants in those denominations to claim that God is black and so would not be
received as a universal God just because the missionary preachers are from Africa?18
Surely, the idea of rejecting Christianity on the basis of whether it is white or black does not
arise. It is because of people’s commitment to other values and things and not in Christ Jesus
that makes them allergic to the Christian faith.
Eighth, an argument from presuppositions. Proponents of the position that renders
Christianity foreign to the African thought do so with presuppositions that are deeply rooted
in other things in the name of defending the African religion known before the Europeans
came. Other people affirm to that but they do not reject the Christian faith. Wathiong’o and
the rest are suffering from a neo colonial presupposition. For most of them, this is a shaky
foundation and their basis of argument cannot be proven. Kwame Bediako’s Christianity in
Africa and Lamin Sanneh’s Translating the Message are very crucial in debunking the myth
that Christianity is a foreign religion. Sanneh ‘examines the consequences of scriptural
translatability, with modern Africa as the main focus. He shows the deeper connections
between Bible translation and related issues such as cultural self-understanding, vernacular
pride, social awakening, religious renewal, cross-cultural dialogue, transmission and
recipiency,reciprocity in mission, and in a provisional way what light the comparative Islamic
example might throw on the subject. Such people fought for the Christianization of
Africa’19. For Bediako, Christianity is suited for Africa. He confirms that churches begun
18 Shaw, Popular Objections, Powerful Answers, 99
19 Lamin Sanneh, Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture. (Mary Knoll, New York: Orbis, 2008) pp.1ff.
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by western influence and indigenous African initiative remain important religious and
social institutions in their own right which can not be ignored. Looking at the above
references, it behooves the African Christian to reject in totality any attempt that aims at
insulating them against a faith that they participated in its formative stages. Such foundations
have no basis.
Ninth, Africa had a rich religious heritage. There was an assumption that there was
nothing valuable in African cultural and religious heritage, and that the African background
must be ignored or abandoned by any African who chose to become a Christian. This led to
the conclusion that the European cultural tradition by virtue of its long influence by
Christianity was itself Christian, and African culture was pagan, heathen and primitive. This
has led to the hesitation and widespread refusal by missionaries and African Christians to
take African religions seriously, for fear of syncretism. Many Christians have erroneously
assumed that Christianity as it was introduced by the missionary enterprise was pure, without
any non-Christian elements from pagan Europe. Many of the customs now accepted as
Christian, such as Easter, Christmas and Christian marriage were developed in Europe
through a process of Christianizing pagan customs. The fixing of Christmas and Easter
calendars, for example, was determined more by European pagan religious customs than by
historical considerations of the birth and crucifixion of Jesus. In that sense, Christianity was
full of syncretism even before it reached East Africa through the missionary enterprise20
Implications for African Christianity
In responding to the challenge of Christianity as an authentic religion for Africans, several
implications came to the fore:
1. Contextualization of the faith. In the first place, the impact of the conduct of the
missionaries on the perception of the Christian faith in the past demands that we
20 Mugambi, Critiques of Christianity in African Literature, 5-6. See also Popular Objections, Powerful Answers, p.112
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contextualize the faith carefully. We must never try to impose our culture or
worldview on people but allow them to form their own convictions as we cogently
build a case for the faith in Christ Jesus. Following the footsteps of Jesus and Paul, we
notice that contextualization presents the Gospel through the felt needs, worldview
and prevailing situations around a person or group of people. Whether considering
customs dealing with meat offered to idols or people’s religious perception, leading to
his sermon on Mars Hill, Paul, unlike some European missionaries, matched biblical
truth with cultural meaningfulness in doing theology of contextualization21. This is
what missionaries missed as they considered Africa concept of God as savage and
primitive. Arguing against the same, Mbiti22 argues that Africans had a concept of
God and they understood him as omnipotent, omnipresence and omniscient.
2. Need for Incarnational Missiology. As believers endeavour to present the gospel in
cultures foreign to their own, they need to find contact points which can give them a
rapport with the recipient culture. This will be more effective rather than trying to
demonize parts of their culture that look demonic. This is especially because in every
culture, there are both divine and demonic elements.
3. Need for new way of doing apologetics. In the past, Christian faith has built its case on
positions. Evidentialism has been the main thing that has been used to convince those
who are against the Christian faith. However, 21st century African Christian apologists
will need to start engaging with dissenters on a presupposition level. This method
brings the dissenter to the humble admission that the reason why they are against the
Christian faith is not because it has problems but because they are part of a
prepositional value system that rejects God and which they would rather not recant.
21 Shaw, Popular Objections, Powerful Answers, 98
22 Mugambi, Critiques of Christianity in African Literature, 67
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Conclusion
Christianity is not and never was a western religion, neither was it imposed on Africans by
the westerners. No one forced the Africans to believe the gospel and indigenous Africans
were instrumental in the formative stages of Christianity and even in the European
missionary enterprise. As Such, Christianity cannot be said to originate from the west. Those
who declare that Christianity is a foreign religion, work on basis of presuppositions that they
hold dear and would not relinquish them for the Christian faith. When all is said and done,
the real issue will never be whether Christianity is foreign or local—since we all know that it
cannot be encapsulated in race or religion—but will be a matter of allegiance to God or
rejection of God against all knowledge that is presented before them.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Campbell, Campbell-Jack, and Gavin J. McGrath. New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2006.
Mugambi, J.N.K. Critiques of Christianity in African Literature. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers, 1992.
Oden, Thomas C. How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind: Rediscovering the African Seedbed of Western Christianity. Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 2007.
Sanneh, Lamin. Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture. Mary Knoll, New York: Orbis, 2008.
Shaw, Mark. The Kingdom of God in Africa. Katunayake: New Life, 2006.
Shaw, Mark (Ed.). Popular Objections, Powerful Answers. Nairobi: NEGST, 2008.
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