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Christianity: Out of Africa
By PAT MORRISON
Thanks to a largely white, Western take on history, many Catholics
tend to think that Christianity arrived on the African continent as the result
of European-based missionary efforts that began in the 15th century. But a
closer look at church history reveals a much different picture.
The first mention of Africa and the Good News of Jesus occurs in
the first pages of the Acts of the Apostles -- before the conversion of Saul.
In the eighth chapter of Acts, the apostle Philip encounters an Ethiopian, the
chief treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia. Joining the early African chief
financial officer in his chariot, Philip gives him a crash course in scripture
that explains Jesus in the teaching of the prophets. When they reach a body of
water, Philip baptizes the Ethiopian, who “goes on his way
rejoicing.”
Apparently the Ethiopian’s newfound faith put down strong
roots on the African continent. By the second century, beginning in North
Africa, a vibrant Christianity was in evidence and lasted well into the seventh
century. In 206 A.D., the Carthage-born noblewoman Perpetua and her slave,
Felicity, were among thousands of Christians who gave their lives as martyrs
during fierce Roman persecutions. As the next wave of persecution, under the
Roman emperor Diocletian, roared across North Africa, church historian Eusebius
relates in 303 that he personally witnessed hundreds of Christians being
martyred around Alexandria. The exploits of these African witnesses spawned a
whole new literary genre, “acts of the martyrs.” The vivid and
inspiring (and frequently gory) tales became so popular that, just a century
later, St. Augustine had to restrain Christians in his diocese from reading the
stories in church as they did the scripture.
St. Augustine was born in 354 in Tagaste, North Africa --
modern-day Algeria. His mother, St. Monica, was a member of a family that had
been Christian for several generations. With the possible exception of Thomas
Aquinas, Augustine has been described as “the greatest single intellect
the Catholic church has ever produced” (source: A Concise History of
the Catholic church by Thomas Bokenkotter). His theology had a powerful
influence on doctrine and church practice over the next two millennia.
While Augustine is known for his theology, he is less known but no
less influential for challenging Rome to adopt a more inclusive view of
leadership. The churches in the provincial capitals of the empire developed
structures that allowed for graduated levels of autonomy. The African churches
stressed the collegiality of bishops and the importance of frequently meeting
in council to address pastoral needs. When the church of Rome began to imitate
the imperialistic top-down style of the empire, Augustine and his fellow
African bishops resisted Rome’s efforts to encroach on their
independence.
Historical records witness to the strength and vitality of the
African churches. By the early part of the fifth century, Christian monasticism
was flourishing in Africa, from Augustine’s Tagaste down through Ethiopia,
which saw large-scale conversions in the fourth century. When Humeric, the
Vandal ruler in Africa, summoned the Catholic bishops of Africa to announce
that he was curtailing their freedom and confiscating their property, he
addressed 466 of them -- a witness to the growth of Catholic Christianity
across the continent in just 400 years since it left the upper room in
Jerusalem.
It was not until the rise of Islam in the seventh century that
Catholic Christianity disappeared progressively across the continent, with the
exception of [Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan]. It took
another millennium before Christian missionaries reintroduced the faith to
other African nations. But after Jerusalem, Africa was the earliest center of
Christianity. Today, the African churches are thriving again. Like the
Ethiopian of Acts, African priests and religious are traveling to the churches
of Europe and the Americas, filling in gaps from the clergy shortage and
bringing new energy and vitality wherever they go.
Pat Morrison is NCR managing editor. Her e-mail address
is pmorrison@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, September 13, 2002
[corrected 09/27/2002]
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