The Christian Religion Came to us From The Teachings of The Holy Bible.
Archaeology and history substantiate Bible events with documentary evidence.
Jesus came into the scene as was foretold in the Old Testament, and Christianity was born. Jesus’s troubles started because he preached against established norms rooted in Jewish custom.
Once the Jews interrogated Jesus. He told them:
“Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning“.
Matt. 19:8
He paid with his life because he taught that ‘it was not this way from the beginning.
Historical Perspective
- There was a covenant between God and the Jews as recorded in the Holy Book. In many ways, God showed his superiority over other gods. But they preferred to impose human will over God’s commandments.
- History and archaeology continue to consider Africa as the cradle of man. It means that Africa was present from the beginning. Abraham, the founder of the Jewish nation, hails from Ur in present-day Iraq. Iraq is not a European country, and neither are they of the white stock. We read about Cush located in present-day Sudan, Ethiopia, and southern Egypt. Remember the beautiful African queen of Sheba and King Solomon? Dark-complexed Moses was also not white.
- When Jesus walks into a people’s way of living, they always resist the new rules. Opposition to a change of attitude is often stiff. Man’s fall makes him come short of God’s glory. His ways are not God’s ways. Africans are not different from the Jews. They lament that Christianity is suppressing indigenous culture and tradition. When Jesus Christ manifested in Isreal, he was homegrown, yet they resisted him.
- The official baptism of Christianity was on the day of Pentecost. The Apostles filled with the holy spirit spoke in different tongues. In Acts. 2: 8-11, Africans were part of the crowd that heard them in their languages. The Ethiopian eunuch was one of the first converts who carried the good news back to Africa. These events took place long before the colonial powers came on board.
European Colonial Factor
People pretend to be Christians to do stuff. The purity of Jesus’ teaching and the stuff these guys do are two different ball games.
People disguise themselves as Christians to perpetrate evil. And others blame it on the Christian religion. Europe is guilty of this pretext.
Colonial powers adopted Christianity before coming to Africa. Agreed! Its values affected their mode of living but it was not imposed on them. The arrogance that European culture is superior to Africa’s is the issue here.
The version of Christianity brought to Africa is Europe contaminated. This is why disgruntled Africans think Christianity is a product of Europe. They are right in this regard.
But Christ and Christianity were not born in Europe. Simple!
Let us remember, many missionaries from Europe sacrificed precious lives to evangelize Africa. They brought a lot of goodwill.
Culture & Tradition
Inculturation is the effort by African theologians to correct this anomaly. They want Jesus Christ to shine in Africa. Jesus will illuminate Culture and tradition. He will separate bad habits, and good ones retained.
European missionaries stopped inhuman practices. They stopped the killing of twins and the sacrifice of humans to appease idols. But they also misjudged good aspects of the people’s way of living.
The imported culture was a pretext to trample on local identity.
The Christianity imported into colonial Africa lacked Jesus’ blazing fire. Or the power of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost fire invoked in Africa today is lacking in Europe.
The result is the crisis of faith witnessed in the continent of Europe.
The scramble for converts is part of the politics of the European conquest. African writers talked about it in their works.
“The white man is very wise, he gave us the Bible and asked us to close our eyes. When we opened our eyes, we had the Bible and he had our land“
Chinua Achebe
You remember the story of the tower of Babel, right? Read it again in Genesis 11: 1-9. It is an allegory that borders on the will of a conqueror. You need to contextualize it.
The expression is set around the period of Babylonian invasions. A ruler imposes his tyranny on his subjects. And forces one language down everyone’s throat.
The colonial masters forced their style of Christianity down our throats.
The guys in the narrative had embarked on a fruitless project to reach heaven. Are you kidding me? There was no way they could get anywhere near heaven. Well, God intervened to reverse an ill-conceived project.
God loves us in our diversity. He loves us the way we are. The Apostles spoke everyone’s language at Pentecost. The African languages were not left out.
The Holy Spirit will speak your language if invoked. The Apostles did not address people in Greek or Hebrew through interpreters. They waited for the Paraclete.
You are fortunate if you are a Christian. The white folks tried to hijack Christianity because of its many benefits. They have hijacked the world economy through politics.
Don’t allow anyone to deceive you that Christianity is a white man’s exclusive. That is not correct.
To Believe is A Question of Personal Choice.
God created man in his image and gave him the will to choose. The power of choice is sacrosanct. We must respect those who do not share our faith and opinion.
Jesus Christ talked about the love of God and the love of our neighbour. It is possible to love our neighbour through the power of the Holy Spirit. There are people who think religion is an instrument of oppression.
Wealthy countries suffer as much depression as poor countries. Widespread frustration is also common among the rich.
In Africa, we must respect people who do not accept Jesus Christ as the only Mediator. It is their choice.
We must not be like Moses who pleaded with God to spear his brethren.
But unleashed his anger when he saw them worshipping a golden calf. (Exodus 31:18) God does not want us to take his place. We must aspire to see the promised land.
If you thought Christianity was foreign, you must think again.
Imagine going back to the idols for a consultation. Imagine throwing away twins, and triplets, or sacrificing them to the deities. Does it make sense to approach animated carvings as mediators?
I will not! But the right choice for others is not mine to contest.
I will like to have your views on this sensitive topic. Shalom
