Christianity In African Diaspora

Religion is a very important factor in the African Diaspora and African American history. The enslavement of many Africans in the New World and the interaction with Native Americans and Europeans brought new religions, religious views, cultures, rituals, and traditions to Africa and the Americas. Even though there was many small religions, Islam was one of the most widespread religions in Africa, then Christianity started dispersing once Europeans came and set foot into Africa. This religion was spread throughout various parts of Africa and enslaved Africans were being forced to practice this religion in the Americas as well as in parts of Africa. The Christian holy book called the Bible has affected the lives of Africans and their descendants

People may believe that the bible was just Europeans holy book but that is not true because Black people are mentioned and appear in the history of the Bible many times. The New Testament records the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch and explains when the apostle Paul has his first missionary journey into Europe, bringing Christian beliefs back to Africa. By the third century Christianity was the dominant religion in North Africa and Egypt. In the sixth century, Christianity spread to many Nubian Kingdoms becoming the most powerful and influential religion. Christianity has been in Africa for so long that it can almost be considered indigenous to the culture of Africa. Christianity influenced the Black populations in Africa and the Diaspora in many beneficial and non-beneficial ways. Europeans believed that slavery was not a bad thing and slaveowners took advantage of their slaves, they believed it was okay to treat the slaves poorly because it was mentioned in the Bible and it was a way to make them civil. The Bible gave them a reason to justify their

European slaveowners forced the African slaves to practice a new religion and a new way of life, they also gave slaves Christian names. I find this very wrong because African Americans were civil they were just different from others and it was not right for the whites to treat them that way. The positive thing that came out of the spreading of religion especially Christianity was that the Africans learned a new religion as well as culture and traditions that were different from their own. The Bible and God came to be very vital in many African American lives because it gave them hope in times of struggle and need as well as bring new cultures, rituals, and even languages that the black community was able to incorporate in their everyday