In The Congo…Safe and Sound (Part 3)

According to Thomas Oden, in his book, “How Africa Shaped The Christian Mind”, there soon may be almost a half billion Christians in Africa. Now estimated at over four hundred million (46 percent of the total African population of 890 million according to the Pew Forum), and rapidly  growing, a significant proportion of global Christian believers at this time are residents of the continent of Africa! David Barrett projects the continuing growth rate to 2025 as 633 million Christians in Africa!! Wow!!

          The Christian population of Africa is burgeoning! Debates in the West will appear trivial in relation to what lies ahead in the Global South. By the way, did you know that the world Christian population is predominantly located in the Southern hemisphere?? Yikes! Europeans and North Americans are cautiously realizing that the future of Christianity lies far more to the south of the equator than to the north!

          The role of Africa in the Bible and Christian memory is amazing in many pivotal scenes of salvation history. It is the story of the children of Abraham in Africa; Joseph in Africa; Moses in Africa; Mary, Joseph and Jesus in Africa; and shortly thereafter Mark and Perpetua and Athanasius and Augustine in Africa!

          Judaism and Christianity have their roots in the story of a people formed in the interaction between Africa and Asia. Jews and Christians would travel from Egypt to Jerusalem to Samaria to Antioch, and from there to the uttermost parts of the earth. And from Pentecost on, Africa would always have Christians. References to Apollos of Alexandria, the Libyans at Pentecost, Simon of Cyrene, and Ethiopian believers are there. No African century since Apollos has lacked Christian presence!

          Much Christian intellectual history matured in the valleys and cities around inland river systems up and down the Nile. Early church writers like Tertullian, Cyprian, Arnobius, Optatus and Augustine were African thinkers.

Some scholars of African culture have mistakenly assumed that Christianity began in Africa only a couple of centuries ago, strictly imported from “the West” or “the North”. This is a narrow, modern view of history, ignoring Christianity’s first millennium, when African thought shaped and conditioned virtually every diocese in Christianity worldwide!!

          Get and read Oden’s book on “How Africa Shaped The Christian Mind” for an incredible read of some church history. I believe that God is at work afresh again in Africa….just as Africa saved Christianity numerous times in the past, it may very well be that Africa is now being called upon by God to do it again!!

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