AFRICA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY

CHRISTIANITY IS NOT A WESTERN RELIGION

BY

BERNARD KARIUKI KIMANI STUDENT 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.

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 Gods 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 police2 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

Campbell-Jack Campbell and Gavin J. McGrath, New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics (Leicester: InterVarsity Press, 2006), 46.
2

J.N.K. Mugambi. Critiques of Christianity in African Literature (Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers, 1992), 34.

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. 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 catechists3.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 community5. 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 whiteas 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 inculturationwhich is indeed

Ibid. 101. Ibid. Ibid., 102

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. 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 Anglicans 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 Africans 6. 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 Africa8. 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

Mark Shaw, (Ed). Popular Objections, Powerful Answers (Nairobi: NEGST, 2008), 92. J.S. Mbiti in Mugambi, Critiques of Christianity in African Literature, 67 Ibid. Ibid., 102.

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 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 thatEthiopian 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 Ethiopia13. Westerners received Christianity just like Africans

10

Shaw, Popular Objections, Powerful Answers, 92 Campbell and McGrath, New Dictionary of Christian Apologetics, 46 Shaw, Popular Objections, Powerful Answers, 97. Ibid. 91.

11

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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 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 Europes benefit. If we follow Odens 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
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.

and, as such, a necessary basis for their own intellectual maturation. These intellectuals cannot lead the charge to reclaim Africa's intellectual legacy. This is especially tragic considering that the idea of a university was born in Africa15. 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 Kenyas 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.

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. 28:1920). 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 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. Wouldnt 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 peoples 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. Wathiongo 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 Bediakos Christianity in Africa and Lamin Sannehs 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 Africa19. 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.

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 peoples 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 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 localsince we all know that it cannot be encapsulated in race or religionbut 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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