Is Christianity an African Religion?
Christianity has been a significant religion in Africa for centuries, with millions of Africans identifying as Christians. However, in this age of reclamation, in which Africans are being encouraged by conscience to shed the religious beliefs of our colonizers and return to our own spiritual traditions, the important question of whether Christianity is an African religion, has become a very controversial one.
To us, the question of whether Christianity is an African Religion is not a complex one because we’ve studied history and can separate reality from fiction. Christianity is defined as a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. That means that Christianity couldn’t have existed before Jesus. The next question then should be, when did Jesus Christ live?
Jesus Christ is believed to have lived between 7–2 BC and 26–36 AD in the region of the Middle East known as Israel. This is the 1st intersection of the controversy because many people believe that the Middle East was, is, and will always be a part of Africa. If you believe that the Middle East is a part of Africa then yes, Christianity is an African religion. You don’t have to read this any further because you win a prize for being stupid.
Although Africa and the Middle East both share the same Continental Plate, the Middle East is not and was never considered a part of Africa. In those times Africans were known as Ethiopians and Cushites because of their dark skin. There are passages in the Bible that singles them out as being different from Jews. In those days, Africans were either traders or were brought into the Middle East as slaves.
Before and during the time of Jesus, Israel was under the rulership of the Romans. Jesus travelled around Israel perching his message of redemption to wayward Jews. The general consensus among Jews was that they were suffering because their God had put them in bondage for disobedience. This is a simply psychological concept that exists even till today because of human fears
Could African Traders and slaves have heard Jesuses’ preachings and become followers of his hopeful messages? That is a very strong possibility; however, that still does not make Christianity an African religion. African religions are religions that were created by Africans for Africans, not religions that were created by non-Africans but were adopted by Africans afterwards.
The truth is that in the early years after Jesuses death, he became a martyr for his defiance against the mighty Romans and his messages began to spread exponentially throughout all regions of the Roman Empire. About 60 years later, the Jew Saul who was masquerading as a Roman General made himself the appointed keeper of Jesuses legacy and began to document the life of Jesus in writing.
We know that a lot of Africans are brainwashed and refuse to give up Christianity, Islam, and Judaism because those religions soothe their disconnection from true Spirituality. As long as our people don’t use those religions to kill each other, I don’t see anything wrong with them. Some say the problem is not religion, it’s the people practicing it but that’s a misnomer though.
