CHRISTIANITY'S AFRICAN HERITAGE: Blacks find roots in faith



Papa Herman posted this fantastic article.

It's rather timely because I JUST overheard someone on a talk radio program explaining how he, as a black man, was "de-europeanizing" himself. And this included - in his mind - the abandonment of Christianity. I nearly crashed my truck - and worse yet almost broke my newly filled growler - yelling at the radio.

My dangerous blathering included the following: Christianity spread to Africa at the same time it was spreading into Europe. Africa was largely Christian before Britain and numerous other European areas. And for the African-American convert muslims who became so in order to "de-europeanize", I have even more bad news: Africans were saying the Christian liturgy for more than 500 years before Arab muslims invaded.

Comments

Anonymous said…
When you come from a Christian tradition (so-to-call-it) that pretty much ignores all of Christendom from the Apostolic period to Martin Luther, then it pretty much follows that the authentic African expression of Christianity will not even be on the radar screen.
5:15 PM
Hilarius said…
There's a great little movie about the Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie that follows his life. As a boy his mother teaches him about faith and perserverance. She dies in his youth, and there's some wonderful scenes of an Ethiopian Orthodox burial service and a baptismal service.

Funny how Deacon Philip preached to the Ethiopian Eunuch, and how Ethiopian has preserved the faith despite being quite removed from the Mediterranean.

Orthodoxy is as much authentically African (and not merely North African) as it is French, English, Greek, Russian, Middle Eastern or any other - which is just good Christian common sense.

The movie is called Endurance. The opening scenes you just get to watch Gebrselassie run through the Ethiopian countryside - pure poetry in motion.
12:37 PM
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