DOCSLIB.ORG

The Identity of African Christians

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Identity of African Christians Bengt Sundkler, Christopher Steed. The History of the Church in Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. xviii + 1232 pp. $140.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-521-58342-8. Reviewed by Isabel Mukonyora Published on H-SAfrica (May, 2001) 'THE IDENTITY OF AFRICAN CHRISTIANS' 8-9), is used to make a strong point about the Readers will like this book a lot because its claim that Christianity is as traditional to Africa as aim is to challenge westerners to think about it is to the western world. Christianity as a religion of Africa in which As I found when teaching a course on Chris‐ African have always taken part in the spread tianity in Africa at the University of Zimbabwe, thereof. As far as Sundkler is concerned it is prob‐ Donatists are a lot easier to accept as Africans lematic to think that European missionaries were than the Early Church Fathers of North Africa. Do‐ vital to the spread of Christianity in Africa. This is natists were not as cosmopolitan in outlook as the partially true, but extremely important to grasp. master of hellenization, Origen at the School of In today's world, this voluminous book makes Alexandria in the second century, or the well-trav‐ good reading for anyone serious about knowing eled intellectual St Augustine who was baptized African history. into Christianity in a far away Rome before he NORTH AFRICAN INTELLECTUALS AND came back to Africa to settle in Hippo. As a move‐ KINGS ment of Berber origin, Donatists distinguished themselves in North African Church history by The most interesting aspect of this book lies staging a rebellion against the imperial state in in the effort made to challenge Europeans into re‐ the name of Christian orthodoxy understood by thinking their role in spreading Christianity in them to separate the Church as a community for Africa. From the outset, Sundkler and Steed focus the Holy from the institutions of the imperial gov‐ on the role of African Christians in shaping their ernment that were considered corrupt, oppres‐ understanding of the belief system in North sive and certainly not worth giving honor through Africa from the frst century onwards. The exis‐ the worship of the Emperor (pp. 22-41). African tence of a Coptic Church that is indigenous to students living in neo-colonial societies can prob‐ North Africa and claims to be founded on the ably identify with the Donatists as African Chris‐ teaching of St. Mark, one of the gospel writers (pp. H-Net Reviews tians in the face of an imperial power responsible is unmistakable. Sundkler observes that St. Augus‐ for their persecution. tine considered Punic "an honorable part of his Among the other wonders of this book that native heritage" and chose it 'to explain biblical are widely known among Africanists but never‐ words' (p. 26). The news that St Augustine of Hip‐ theless important to mention in a book aimed at po had a high regard for Punic as his mother persuading us to think of Christianity as an tongue is bound to raise eyebrows among western African phenomenon is the discussion on the roy‐ theologians already fnding it hard to accept that alty of Ethiopia. Christianity was introduced to Augustine, Tertullian, and Cyprian were African the royal courts of Aksum through the consecra‐ (pp. 22-41). tion of Frumentius as Bishop of Aksum. This was Sundkler even tries his hand at theology by done by Bishop Athanasius as head of the Church pointing to what he calls the 'Unionite' doctrine of in Alexandria between AD328 and 378 (pp. 12, 35). Christ, otherwise known as monophytisism. This, This led King Ezana of Aksum to embrace Chris‐ Sundkler maintains, is a distinct African view of tianity and declare it a state religion to mark the Christ as a divine being. Since the statement of beginning of a long legacy of dynasties of confess‐ Chalcedon in AD 329, Christian orthodoxy insists ing Christians (pp. 150-168). Readers who are not on affirming the full humanity and full divinity of familiar with early Christianity in Africa might Christ. But, the African Christians in the Coptic find it an amazing testimony to the permanence Church of Egypt and Ethiopia reason about Christ of Christianity in Africa to hear of an African King their own way. For them Jesus Christ could only in Ethiopia making Christianity a state religion at have been of one nature and that was a divine na‐ the same time as Constantine in the fourth centu‐ ture ftting of the only Son of God (p. 16). The ry Roman Empire (pp. 35-38). So it seems to be the Ethiopian delegation withdrew from Chalcedon case for Sundkler that from early Christianity in and left western Christian orthodoxy with the Africa, when royalty fnds for itself a family reli‐ perennial problem of having to try and explain gion, it expects the subjects to follow (passim). how someone who shares fully in our humanity The matters for discussion go deeper. Sund‐ has also a perfect divine nature from eternity. It kler claims for Africa the theologians of North does not matter to Sundkler that the Christologi‐ Africa such as, Tertullian, Augustine, Athanasius cal formula that the Ethiopian Christians uphold and others. These are widely known theologians to this day was dismissed as a heresy. The impor‐ providing us with enough material to read for tant point is that Africans had their own way of weeks. Sundkler claims them for Africa without reflecting on the identity of Christ as the focus of necessarily getting us lost in the deep theological their faith. arguments that usually go with the mention of African theologians Kwame Bediako, John these reputable men. As for the Hellenism, well, it Mbiti and others would welcome the detailed way appears to be taken for granted as a phenomenon in which Sundkler writes about Christianity with that was pervasive in the Greco-Roman world African agency as a main theme. Over ffty years wherever it extended. Alexandria and Carthage ago, Mbiti became well known among African in‐ happened to be important areas of trade and with tellectuals for questioning the European assump‐ it came many Greek influences upon the indige‐ tion that Africans were ignorant of God before Eu‐ nous people who reflect this in their literary ropeans brought the Gospel. Mbiti claimed that works. Despite this, St. Augustine, widely known Christianity in North Africa during the Greco-Ro‐ as the patron of western orthodox theology, is man Empire is part of African history and the tra‐ portrayed in such a way that his African identity ditional African culture beyond the borders of the 2 H-Net Reviews Empire shows many continuities of belief with The latter are anxious to have their tradition‐ Christianity. Since then, Pobee, Kwesi Dickson, al cultures given the respect they have always de‐ Nyamiti, Sanneh and others have gone to great served by drawing out the areas of continuity be‐ lengths to show that African religious idioms can tween past and present religions. In Sundkler's be used to explain key doctrines of the Christian case, more attention is paid instead to the fact faith to an African audience. Names of high gods, that Europeans did in fact contribute in a signifi‐ images of chiefs and ancestors have been used to cant way to the spread of the new religion of characterize the modern subject of African Theol‐ Christianity in Africa beyond the Sahara desert ogy. Bediako followed the footsteps of Mbiti and through a missionary enterprise that recognize maintained that the Church Fathers from early the importance of African evangelism. Plagued by Christianity such as, St. Augustine, Cyril of Alexan‐ diseases leading to a high death rate, European dria, Tertullian, and Origen etc. are patrons of missionaries soldiered on to ensure that Africans African theology (Bediako, 1992). where touched by the gospels (passim). The re‐ As indicated above, Sundkler would agree peated references to missionary bodies from Eu‐ with this to some extent. At least, the detailed rope and America such as Methodists, Presbyteri‐ notes about Christian witness throughout North ans from Scotland, Anglicans, Catholics, Baptists, Africa, down the Nile leading to Ethiopia by the Salvation Army and so on make it difficult to Africans suggest the emergence of African theo‐ appreciate the indigenous character of Christiani‐ logical thought to go with the history of the ty that Sundkler is trying to help us to understand. spread of Christianity on the continent. What the THE CONQUEST OF WEST, CENTRAL, EAST African theologians do, and Sundkler avoids, is to AFRICA AND BEYOND go further to show the extent to which the pre- Sundkler tries very hard, nevertheless, to Christian African religions found in areas remote show the active participation of Africans in the to North Africa in Sub-Sahara Africa are prepara‐ conversion of fellow Africans. Even in giving an tio evangelica. For Mbiti, it is very important to account of the ways in which Europeans spread recognize that even though Christianity was pre‐ Christianity among Africans as subjects of con‐ sented to many Africans in European dress, it was quista (pp. 44-45), he is quick to identify Africans not new insofar as the concepts that missionaries who took up positions of leadership in the church, believed themselves to be introducing anew were especially authority fgures such as Kings and found in the African religions. Hence, the names chiefs. He also makes a point of drawing attention for the Judaeo-Christian God have today been tak‐ to any evidence suggesting that Europeans some‐ en from names of the high god in the various times encountered African people who were in‐ African religions.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Sacred Spaces, Political Authority, and the Dynamics of Tradition in Mijikenda History
    Sacred Spaces, Political Authority, and the Dynamics of Tradition in Mijikenda History A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of Ohio University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts David P. Bresnahan June 2010 © 2010 David P. Bresnahan. All Rights Reserved. 2 This thesis titled Sacred Spaces, Political Authority, and the Dynamics of Tradition in Mijikenda History by DAVID P. BRESNAHAN has been approved for the Department of History and the College of Arts and Sciences by Nicholas M. Creary Assistant Professor of History Benjamin M. Ogles Dean, College of Arts and Sciences 3 ABSTRACT BRESNAHAN, DAVID P., M.A., June 2010, History Sacred Spaces, Political Authority, and the Dynamics of Tradition in Mijikenda History (156 pp.) Director of Thesis: Nicholas M. Creary This thesis explores the social, political, and symbolic roles of the Mijikenda kayas in the Coast Province of Kenya. The kayas, which exist today as sacred grove forests, are the original homesteads of the Mijikenda and the organizational units from which the symbolic authority and esoteric knowledge of the Mijikenda elders are derived. As a result, I conceptualize kayas as the physical space of the forests, but also complex networks of political, metaphysical, and symbolic power. While the kaya forests and their associated institutions have often been framed as cultural relics, I use this lens to illustrate how the position of the kayas in Mijikenda life has influenced broader social and political developments. Three main themes are developed: the first theme addresses how the kayas were used in different capacities to create space from the encroachment of colonial rule.
    [Show full text]
  • Mfundo Zoonadi Zenizeni Za Bukhu Lopatulika
    MULUNGU 1 MFUNDO ZOONADI ZENIZENI ZA BUKHU LOPATULIKA Maphunziro Owerenga Kuwulura Za Chimwemwe Ndi Mtendere Mu Chikristu Choona Duncan Heaster 2 MULUNGU MFUNDO ZOONADI ZENIZENI ZA BUKHU LOPATULIKA DUNCAN HEASTER MULUNGU 3 Bible Basics English Edition first published 1992 Chichewa Edition published 2005, reprinted 2011 Bible Basics is also available in: Afrikaans, Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Estonian, Farsi, French, Georgian, Hebrew, Hungarian, Hindi, Igbo, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Mongolian, North Sotho, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbo-Coat, Slovak, Spanish, Tagalog, Telugu, Turkish, Ukrainian To view available translations on-line see http://www.biblebasicsonline.com http://www.carelinks.net Published by Christadelphian Advancement Trust Company No. 3927037 Reg. Charity No. 1014615 PO Box 3034 South Croydon, Surrey CR2 0ZA ENGLAND Carelinks Publishing, PO Box 152, Menai NSW 2234 AUSTRALIA Duncan Heaster – 2005 4 MULUNGU MULUNGU 5 PHUNZIRO 1: MULUNGU 1 1.1. Mulungu Alipo 1.2 Mawonekedwe A Mulungu 1.3 Dzina La Mulungu Ndi Makhalidwe Ake 1.4 Angelo PHUNZIRO 2: MZIMU WA MULUNGU 39 2.1 Mzimu Wa Mulungu – Tanthawuzo 2.2 Mauziridwe (Mapatsidwe A Mau Ndi Mulungu) 2.3 Mphatso Za Mzimu Woyera 2.4 Kuchotsedwa Kwa Mphatso 2.5 Baibulo Lamulo Lokhalo PHUNZIRO 3 : MALONJEZANO A MULUNGU 115 3.1 Malonjezano A Mulungu Oyamba 3.2 Malonjezano A M‟munda Wa Edeni 3.3 Malonjezano Kwa Nowa 3.4 Malonjezano Kwa Abrahamu 3.5 Malonjezano Kwa Davide PHUNZIRO 4 : MULUNGU NDI IMFA 160 4.1 Uthunthu Wa
    [Show full text]
  • African Roots of Christianity: Christianity Is a Religion of Africa
    Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Faculty Publications 2021 African Roots of Christianity: Christianity is a Religion of Africa Trevor O'Reggio Andrews University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/pubs Part of the Missions and World Christianity Commons Recommended Citation O'Reggio, Trevor, "African Roots of Christianity: Christianity is a Religion of Africa" (2021). Faculty Publications. 2255. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/pubs/2255 This Presentation is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. African Roots of Christianity CHRISTIANITY IS A RELIGION OF AFRICA African Proverb We must go back and reclaim our past, so that we can move forward, so we can understand why and how we came to be who we are today Ancient Akan principle of Sankofa Early Christianity Christianity in the 3rd.century Christianity in Africa 250-AD-406-AD Christianity in Transition The era of Western Christianity has passed within our lifetime and the day of Southern Christianity is dawning. The fact of change is undeniable; it has happened and will continue to happen. Phillip Jenkins Shifting Christianity 1500—Era of Luther and Calvin • 92% of Christians were in global north • Christianity was a “white man’s religion” 1800—William Carey to India • 86% of Christians were in global north 1900—82% in north 2000—42% in north, 58% in south • Christianity is a world religion 2100—22% in north, 78% in south (proj.
    [Show full text]
  • Encounters Between Jesuit and Protestant Missionaries in Their Approaches to Evangelization in Zambia
    chapter 4 Encounters between Jesuit and Protestant Missionaries in their Approaches to Evangelization in Zambia Choobe Maambo, s.j. Africa’s reception of Christianity and the pace at which the faith permeated the continent were incredibly slow. Although the north, especially Ethiopia and Egypt, is believed to have come under Christian influence as early as the first century, it was not until the fourth century that Christianity became more widespread in north Africa under the influence of the patristic fathers. From the time of the African church fathers up until the fifteenth century, there was no trace of the Christian church south of the Sahara. According to William Lane, s.j.: It was not until the end of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries that Christianity began to spread to the more southerly areas of Africa. The Portuguese, in their search for a sea route to India, set up bases along the East and West African coasts. Since Portugal was a Christian country, mis- sionaries followed in the wake of the traders with the aim of spreading the Gospel and setting up the Church along the African coasts.1 Prince Henry the Navigator (1394–1460) of Portugal was the man behind these expeditions, in which priests “served as chaplains to the new trading settle- ments and as missionaries to neighboring African people.”2 Hence, at the close of the sixteenth century, Christian missionary work had increased significantly south of the Sahara. In Central Africa, and more specifically in the Kingdom of Kongo, the Gospel was preached to the king and his royal family as early as 1484.
    [Show full text]
  • History of Christianity in Africa Joel E
    History of Christianity in Africa Joel E. Tishken Spring 2002 Email: [email protected] (this is the most Southwestern University reliable means of contacting me; I check my email HIS 16-303-03; REL19-303-03 several times daily) MW 3-4:15 CB 23 Office Hours: M 4:20-5:00 Office: MB212 Phone: 863-1858 Course Description This course surveys the history of Christianity in Africa from the advent of various North African churches in the ancient era, to the growth of Afro-Christian Churches in the contemporary era. The first half of the course will explore some North African variants of Christianity such as Gnosticism, Donatism, and Coptic Christianity, including prominent early theologians such as Origen and Cyprian. Africa was central to the demographic and theological evolution of early Christianity, despite its eclipse from most of Northern Africa in subsequent centuries. It will additionally examine Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa before 1800 including the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and Kongo Catholicism. Reasons will be explored for the relative marginality of Christianity in most of Africa before the nineteenth century. The second half of the course investigates Christianity in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when Africa once again became a central part of global Christianity. Various themes will be examined including: mission impulses, race, indigenous agency, conversion techniques, and religious change, in a variety of regional contexts. Our primary case studies will be drawn from Southern and West Africa. The course will close with an exploration of Afro-Christian Churches; churches that have indigenized Christianity to suit their own cultural and theological needs.
    [Show full text]
  • GLOBAL SOUTH CHRISTIANITY and ADVENTISM: TRENDS and IMPLICATIONS Christopher R
    Andrews University Seminary Student Journal Volume 2 Article 5 Number 1 Spring 2016 1-2016 GLOBAL SOUTH CHRISTIANITY AND ADVENTISM: TRENDS AND IMPLICATIONS Christopher R. Mwashinga Andrews University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/aussj Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Christianity Commons, History of Christianity Commons, Missions and World Christianity Commons, and the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Mwashinga, Christopher R. (2016) "GLOBAL SOUTH CHRISTIANITY AND ADVENTISM: TRENDS AND IMPLICATIONS," Andrews University Seminary Student Journal: Vol. 2 : No. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/aussj/vol2/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Andrews University Seminary Student Journal by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Andrews University Seminary Student Journal, Vol. 2, No. 1, 33–51. Copyright © 2016 Christopher R. Mwashinga. GLOBAL SOUTH CHRISTIANITY AND ADVENTISM: TRENDS AND IMPLICATIONS CHRISTOPHER R. MWASHINGA Ph.D. Candidate in Systematic Theology [email protected] Abstract In recent decades, Christianity has experienced two major phenomena as a religion: its decline in the global North (Europe and North America) and its rise in the global South (Africa, Asia, and South America). The Seventh-day Adventist Church as a denomination has experienced similar trends. The global South has become the home to the majority of Adventists in the world and the global North is now home to only a minority. Studies show that this southward movement in Christian and Adventist demographics may continue for several decades.
    [Show full text]
  • The Routledge Companion to Christianity in Africa Christianity In
    This article was downloaded by: 10.3.98.104 On: 30 Sep 2021 Access details: subscription number Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG, UK The Routledge Companion to Christianity in Africa Elias Kifon Bongmba Christianity in Egypt Publication details https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315890012.ch2 Youhanna Nessim Youssef Published online on: 21 Dec 2015 How to cite :- Youhanna Nessim Youssef. 21 Dec 2015, Christianity in Egypt from: The Routledge Companion to Christianity in Africa Routledge Accessed on: 30 Sep 2021 https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315890012.ch2 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR DOCUMENT Full terms and conditions of use: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/legal-notices/terms This Document PDF may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproductions, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The publisher shall not be liable for an loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. 2 Christianity in Egypt The Coptic Church Youhanna Nessim Youssef The word “Copt” originated from the Greek word “Aigyptius,”“Egyptian” which is the name of the sanctuary near Memphis “Het-Ka-Ptah,”“The dwelling of the ‘Ghost’(ka) of Ptah” and was disfigured by the Arabs to “Copt.” Nowa- days, for a visitor to the Middle East, the word “Coptic” may signify a lot of meanings – like Christian Egyptians, mostly Orthodox – but there is a minority of Catholics and Protestants, or Christian Nubians from the seventh to eleventh centuries or Ethiopians living in Abyssinia.
    [Show full text]
  • Korean Missionary Enterprise in West Africa 1979-1999: a Preliminary Study
    KOREAN MISSIONARY ENTERPRISE IN WEST AFRICA 1979-1999: A PRELIMINARY STUDY . Cephas N. Omenyo and David Choi 20 January 1482 has been accepted as the date on which Christianity was first introduced to West Africa in modem times.' However it was not until the nineteenth century that effective and sustained missionary activities in West Africa were undertaken. In the twentieth century, some major western missionary societies such as the Church Mission Society and the Basel Missionary Society succeeded in re-introducing the Christian faith to the region beginning from Sierra Leone.2 These missionary societies endeav- oured to improve the socio-economic development and growth of the region. Missionaries who have worked in the West African countries after these pioneering ones adopted the strategy of holistic approach to mission thus affecting the lives of the people through both evangelistic and developmental projects. The contemporary Korean missionaries are no exception to this strategy. Early missionary presence was Caucasian and came from the north to the south. However recently, there has been an influence of Asian (Korean) missionaries and they form the focus of this discussion. Korean missionaries have been carrying out their missionary activities in West Africa since 1979. Literature on their activities is virtually non-existent. This essay attempts to provide some information and assessment of Korean missionaries in the West African region from 1979 to 1999. We look at the paradigm shift in Korean cross-cultural missions, the typology of Korean missionaries in West Africa, Agents of Korean mission in West Africa, challenges of the missionary enterprise and suggestions as to how the challenges could be faced.
    [Show full text]
  • Zanzibar: Its History and Its People
    Zanzibar: its history and its people http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.CH.DOCUMENT.PUHC025 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Zanzibar: its history and its people Author/Creator Ingrams, W.H. Publisher Frank Cass & Co., Ltd. Date 1967 Resource type Books Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Northern Swahili Coast, Tanzania, United Republic of, Zanzibar Stone Town, Tanzania Source Princeton University Library 1855.991.49 Rights By kind permission of Leila Ingrams. Description Contents: Preface; Introductory; Zanzibar; The People; Historical; Early History and External Influences; Visitors from the Far East; The Rise and Fall of the Portuguese; Later History of the Native Tribes; History of Modern Zanzibar.
    [Show full text]
  • African Mythology a to Z
    African Mythology A to Z SECOND EDITION MYTHOLOGY A TO Z African Mythology A to Z Celtic Mythology A to Z Chinese Mythology A to Z Egyptian Mythology A to Z Greek and Roman Mythology A to Z Japanese Mythology A to Z Native American Mythology A to Z Norse Mythology A to Z South and Meso-American Mythology A to Z MYTHOLOGY A TO Z African Mythology A to Z SECOND EDITION 8 Patricia Ann Lynch Revised by Jeremy Roberts [ African Mythology A to Z, Second Edition Copyright © 2004, 2010 by Patricia Ann Lynch All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information contact: Chelsea House 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lynch, Patricia Ann. African mythology A to Z / Patricia Ann Lynch ; revised by Jeremy Roberts. — 2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60413-415-5 (hc : alk. paper) 1. Mythology—African. 2. Encyclopedias—juvenile. I. Roberts, Jeremy, 1956- II. Title. BL2400 .L96 2010 299.6' 11303—dc22 2009033612 Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. You can find Chelsea House on the World Wide Web at http://www.chelseahouse.com Text design by Lina Farinella Map design by Patricia Meschino Composition by Mary Susan Ryan-Flynn Cover printed by Bang Printing, Brainerd, MN Bood printed and bound by Bang Printing, Brainerd, MN Date printed: March 2010 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origin of the Maasai and Kindred African Tribes and of Bornean Tribes
    ct (MEMO' 5(t(I1MET• fiAltOtOHHE4GfO HATHOl\-ASMTAi\f 0E\I1l: HALF MAti AtSO '''fJ1nFHH> \.,/i1'~ NUT. t1At~ Bl~t),WHO HEAD OF· PROPElS HIM:. ENtiAt 5ftFwITI'f ("ufCn MATr4OR, (OW ~F f1AA~AI PLATE: .0'\. PREFACE. The research with which this review deals having been entirely carried out here in Central Africa, far away from all centres of science, the writer is only too well aware that his work must shown signs of the inadequacy of the material for reference at his disposal. He has been obliged to rely entirely on such literature as he could get out from Home, and, in this respect, being obliged for the most psrt to base his selection on the scanty information supplied by publishers' catalogues, he has often had many disappointments when, after months of waiting, the books eventually arrived. That in consequence certain errors may have found their way into the following pages is quite posaible, but he ventures to believe that they are neither many nor of great importance to the subject as a whole. With regard to linguistic comparisons, these have been confined within restricted limits, and the writer has only been able to make comparison with Hebrew, though possibly Aramaic and other Semitic dialects might have carried him further. As there is no Hebrew type in this country he has not been able to give the Hebrew words in their original character as he should have wished. All the quotations from Capt. M. Merker in the following pages are translations of the writer; he is aware that it would have been more correct to have given them in the original German, but in this case they would have been of little value to the majority of the readers of this Journal in Kenya.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter Three Early Christianity in North Africa
    Chapter Three Early Christianity in North Africa Kenneth Sawyer & Y ouhana Youssef INTRODUCTION In 1866, Edward Wilmot Blyden visited Egypt. As he gazed at the pyramids, a stirring feeling overwhelmed him about the achievements of his ancestors. He decided on a vocation to urge the descendants of these creative Africans to retake their fame. Was Blyden's hope only a romantic dream? Egypt has continued to loom large in African quest for identity. The story of Christianity in North Africa is part of a golden period of African cultural prominence in the world stage, including the role of Africans in the formation of Christianity as it emerged from the Jesus movement, a sect within Judaism. The story of Christianity is linked to but distinct from the peoples and cultures that surround it. While Egyptians, for instance, considered themselves to be living at the very center of the world, and while they were quite adept at defining themselves over against outsiders, they also proved adept at adapting, absorbing, and resisting other cultures. Those historians who have sought to study northern Africa apart from its geographical and cultural context, those who promote the virtual excision of Egypt from Africa, have greatly distorted its history by describing it in isolation from its intercultural and international contacts. The study of Egypt somehow segregated from Nubian, Libyan, Semitic, Hellenic and Asian influence has greatly distorted the rich interactive complexities of Egyptian civilization, reflecting and reinforcing a most unhelpful segmentation of studies, as if Egyptologists, Africanists, Classicists and Semiticists were incapable of a shared subject or a common perspective.
    [Show full text]