Traditional Christianity As An African Religion

Traditional Christianity as an African Religion

There are so many religions in the world like Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, African Religion and so many more. Although in Africa, the most respected and popular religion is Christianity and Islam, which is made up of majority of Africans. Traditional Christianity as an African Religion is an article written by Calvin Rieber and can be found on the pages 255-273 using the book, “African Religions: A Symposium, published in 1977 by Newell S Booth in writing this report. Christianity began after the death of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem. There was a relationship between Jerusalem and Northern Africa and because of this relationship, Christianity was introduced in Ethiopia, Egypt and the Northern

Granville Sharp, William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson influence the parliament to abolish slave trade for humanitarian reason. Granville Sharp was friends with Chief Justice Lord Mansfield, so he secured a decree in 1772 that ruled that all slaves are free and that any black who steps in England is a free man. This led to the establishment of “civilized colony” in Sierra Leone where free men opened schools, that native children could attend, and it was a rebellion against slave trade and for a free Africa. “Over 1,200 Blacks who had served in the British in the American Revolution… were glad to return to Africa” (Rieber, 256). When these settlers came, they brought with them the faith they have acquired in their exile just as American pioneers carried theirs across the plains. They organized their churches under their own pastors and witnessed to those who came to the colony after them. The Christian faith had become their own and they lived and proclaimed it as such. The receptive of mid-passage set free in Sierra Leone found in Christianity a new religion that met their needs. It took no account of their diverse origins and addressed them as individuals of value. It again provided them with warmth and group experience while granting them opportunities for leadership by lawmen seeking a place in the new

Reverend Samuel Crowther who was an African, was also sent to Abeokuta and within few years, three churches were established, and Crowther’s own mother was the first to be baptized. They returned because they wanted to belong to the people of their birth. “It does make clear that this migration was one factor in the evangelization of Africa” (Rieber, 260). The evangelization of Africa was the reason for the colonization of Africa. Since the Europeans were unable to survive due to malaria, it provided a place for Blacks in the early days of missions in Africa. The work of evangelism in parts of Africa was due to the indigenous first-generation Christians rather than white missionaries according to