God in Africa before the Europeans

[divya]

God in Africa before the Europeans
published: Thursday | February 17, 2005

Martin Henry


FACING DEATH, Rastafarian Robert Nesta Marley was baptised into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Bruce Golding, JLP leader-in-waiting tells Laura Tanna that his son Steven, raised a Seventh-day Adventist by the child's mother, is a passionate Garveyite who now attends the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Haile Selassie, whom Bob venerated, was himself a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

Christianity has a long history on the African continent, long before the European colonisers took what was in some cases a more corrupted version there. As Lamin Sanneh says in West African Christianity: The Religious Impact, "There is need to treat African Christianity as a legitimate tributary of the general stream of Christian history. The North African Church of the early centuries, the Coptic Church of Egypt, as well as the Ethiopian Orthodox Church should all be seen as manifestations of the ongoing history of Christianity on the continent."

RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

But there is an even older Old Testament type monotheism and religious practice residual among many African people groups. "The Akan people of Ghana worshipped the Creator on Saturday long before the first Portuguese ship anchored off the coast in 1471," says Kofi Owusu-Mensa, a Ghanaian scholar. Similar beliefs and practices are found among the Ashanti and Yoruba, for example.

Writing about Ashanti religion in 1923, the British anthropologist R.S. Rattray noted that the Ashanti name for God is Onyamee or Onyankopon Kwamee "whose day of service is Saturday." "This Ashanti God," he continued, "is the same as the Jehovah of the Israelites, whom they worshipped on the Sabbath or Saturday."

The Ashanti believe that in the beginning man acted by natural law, but sin obscured the light of reason and it became necessary for God to give the same precepts and prohibitions to man in clearly defined terms, that man might not plead ignorance as an excuse for transgression. This is precisely what the Old Testament says God did in giving the Ten Commandments!

The Pygmies, considered among the most primitive of African peoples, have this amazing poem about God in their oral literature, captured by John Mbiti in African Religions and Philosophy: "In the beginning was God/Today is God/Tomorrow will be God/Who can make an image of God?/He has no body/He is as a word which comes out of your mouth/That word! It is no more/It is past and still it lives/So is God." Commenting on II Corinthians 3:17, which speaks of the Lord as Spirit, the African Study Bible says, "As far as is known, there are no images or physical representations of God by African peoples."

Ethiopia is one of the earliest Christian nations. The country was evangelised by the Apostle Mark, Ethiopians believe. Contacts between Israel and Ethiopia go back deep into Old Testament times, as in the story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. There are numerous references to Ethiopia in the OT.

In the time of the Apostles, the Ethiopian court official to whom Philip explained the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah had evidently gone to Jerusalem for worship in Judaism. This man may have been the point of contact between Ethiopia and Christianity.

OVERTHROW THE EMPEROR

The Bible was translated into Ethiopic from as early as the fifth century. Tsegaye Medhin Gabre, an Ethiopian playwright, recounts how the English general Napier had been ordered to overthrow the Ethiopian emperor Tewodros and conquer the country. Queen Victoria had penned an insolent letter to Tewodros that he should invite British missionaries to spread the Christian gospel in his kingdom. In reply, Tewodros sent Victoria a copy of a Bible that had been produced in Ethiopia two centuries before the English had embraced Christianity pointing out that if missionaries were to be despatched, perhaps they should be sent from Ethiopia to Britain!

For much of its history the church in Ethiopia was isolated from its western counterpart. When contacts were made, the Latin church sought to force acceptance and practice of its customs which were in many cases further away from the biblical position than the practices and customs of the Ethiopian church.

Martin Henry is a communication specialist.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20050217/cleisure/cleisure3.html

 

[divya]

In light of recent discussion, I am bumping this thread...

 

[divya]

Sabbath Roots -- The African Connection
(July - August 2000 The Sabbath Sentinel)

by Richard Nickels

Black Africans have a unique proclivity toward accepting the seventh-day Sabbath. Historically, Ethiopia, and many other parts of black Africa have been bastions of Sabbatarianism. Their isolation, for centuries, from the corrupting influence of Rome has allowed Africans to maintain much spiritual independence. Today, Christianity in general, and Sabbath-keeping in particular, is exploding in sub-Saharan Africa.

Charles E. Bradford, author of Sabbath Roots: The African Connection, brings to light many surprising historical facts. Those of us who have been schooled in European civilization may be shocked to realize the existence and widespread nature of unvarnished Christianity in black Africa, for centuries. About 340 million Africans profess Christianity. According to reliable estimates, Africa has the world's largest concentration of Sabbath-keepers, some 20 million people, of which only about three million are Seventh Day Adventists. The Sabbath is natural to black Africans. God is doing a work in Africa!


Ethiopia Equals Sabbath-Keeping

Ethiopia (Abyssinia) is a nation defined throughout its existence by its fidelity to the seventh-day Sabbath. Today, the numbers of Sabbath-keepers are exploding in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Gabon, Congo, and elsewhere. Why? Because of the work of missionaries in the 1800s? No! The Sabbath is thriving in Africa because the Sabbath roots of Africa run deep, both in Scripture, and historical practice.

Psalm 68, the Pentecost Psalm, we read, "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God," verse 31. And, she has, and is, responding to the Almighty. "When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt," Hosea 11:1. "From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My suppliants, even the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring Mine offering, Zephaniah 3:10. (Zephaniah may have been of African descent, because he was the son of Cushi, a code name for a descendant of Cush, son of Ham.) "Also the sons of the stranger . . . every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of My covenant; Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer," Isaiah 56:6-7.

African-American preachers have long emphasized the importance of Ethiopia in the plan and purpose of God. For them, the Abyssinian Church is the Church in the Wilderness through which God had maintained for Himself a witness down through the centuries. Egypt is mentioned in Scripture 611 times; Ethiopia 20 times. Egypt figures prominently in the plan and purpose of God, Isaiah 19:24-25. Ethiopia and Egypt are representative of the entire African continent. For the Ashanti (Akan) of Ghana, Saturday has been the traditional holy day, a day of worship of God. Among the Yorubas of Nigeria, the seventh day of the week has been a day when no work, no marriage, no festivities, should be performed. There is no record at any time in the history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church that they have officially given up the Sabbath. Another group of Ethiopians, the Falasha, or "Black Jews," hold to a form of Old Testament religion that was dominant in Solomon's days.

There is a natural God-consciousness among Africans, both in Africa and in the "diaspora," or dispersed. With its theme of deliverance from slavery, justice, and righteousness, the Old Testament looms large in African thinking. Modern white, liberal, theology is foreign to the black mind, which usually take the Bible literally, and religious beliefs seriously. One does not go to Africa only to preach the Gospel; he goes to learn about the Almighty.

Racial Origins: One Source, One Place

What is the origin of the races? While some aspects may be shrouded in mystery, Bradford argues for a monogenetic (single source, single place) origin of mankind and the races, in Africa. Assyria in Mesopotamia, understood to be a northeast extension of Africa, is called in the Bible, "the Land of Nimrod [son of Cush],". In the "Table of Nations" of Genesis 10, Ham's progeny are given more space than any of the other sons of Noah. Of Ham's four sons, Mizraim went to Egypt, Cush to Ethiopia, Phut to Libya, and Canaan to Palestine. Whatever the origin of the racial differences of mankind, Bradford argues for their common origin, and common access to Yahweh's covenant, Genesis 9:8-19. The Sabbath is the great common denominator of that covenant. No one is excluded.

The so-called "curse of Ham" of Genesis 9:20-27 was not on Ham, but Canaan. The startling occurrence of Hebrew words in West African languages, especially in Yoruba, is evidence that covenant people descended from Ham have long permeated the African continent. Far from being pariahs from God, the Eternal has a heart for the African people: "Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance," Isaiah 19:25.


Church of Ethiopia

Sabbath Roots gives much fascinating information about the history of the Church of Ethiopia. The Queen of Sheba was from Ethiopia, and bore a son from King Solomon. Falashas continued the Old Testament religion. In Acts 8:26-40, we are given the account of the introduction of Christianity to Ethiopia, with the conversion of the Ethiopian treasurer (eunuch) by Philip. The treasurer returned to Candace's court, and as a result, Ethiopia became the first Christian nation. The influence of Ethiopia on the rest of Africa was enormous. Ethiopia has been the model nation of Africa for 2,000 or more years. The Bible uses the name, Ethiopia, to mean all of sub-Sahara Africa.

While Europeans (and especially Romans) have continually been uncomfortable with Jewish things, Africans are typically pro-Jewish. That is why we see the Europeans abandoning the Sabbath for Sunday, while many Africans continued to revere the Sabbath. Europeans adopted pagan Greece as their cultural model, while Africans leaned toward Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Although European history is steeped in portraying Africa as the deep black hole of humanity, Africa actually became a model for the rest of the world, albeit not always known to be so.

MORE: http://www.biblesabbath.org/tss/484/sabbathroots.html

 

[cutiebe2]

This is very interesting. I think its an important point that Christianity was established in the Asia minor, greco-roman, African region. There is still debate of exactly where many of the scripture writers originated from but some say some writers were in Egypt so for early Christianity to be present in Ethiopia makes sense.

 

[divya]

This is very interesting. I think its an important point that Christianity was established in the Asia minor, greco-roman, African region. There is still debate of exactly where many of the scripture writers originated from but some say some writers were in Egypt so for early Christianity to be present in Ethiopia makes sense.

Christianity in origin is very much inclusive of that "middle" region, encompassing three continents. From there, it expanded...further into Africa, Europe, and Asia and beyond. When people call Christianity the "white man's religion," it is saddening because there is often a lack of knowledge about the roots of our religion.

 

[GV-NA-GI-TLV-GE-I]

I often wish that people would realize that Judaism's presence in Africa is even older than christianity and, as in Israel, the first to be christianized were Jews...for those in Africa. I just want people to remember that point. Jews of Africa made pilgrimmage to Israel yearly and maintained contact. At some point, some Jewish groups internalized and lost contact with Eretz but maintained Judaism, an older form.

 

[Almaz]

Thanks So glad that someone else knows these things. You'd be suprised to think that many people don't

 

[Ms.Honey]

Thanks So glad that someone else knows these things. You'd be suprised to think that many people don't

I think that many will also be surprised that many DO know these things but since this IS the Christian forum we focus on Christianity's roots not the roots of other religions and yes, I know we have roots in Judaism.

 

[Almaz]

Again the majority don't know. Some people know that Jesus was Jewish. I have run into some Christians that said he was a Chrisitian. And these people are not uneducated. I know YOU do but a lot of people don't. I spent my youth and young adult years in Israel. I used to give tours before and after the army. You'd be suprised.

I think that many will also be surprised that many DO know these things but since this IS the Christian forum we focus on Christianity's roots not the roots of other religions and yes, I know we have roots in Judaism.

 

[divya]

Again the majority don't know. Some people know that Jesus was Jewish. I have run into some Christians that said he was a Chrisitian. And these people are not uneducated. I know YOU do but a lot of people don't. I spent my youth and young adult years in Israel. I used to give tours before and after the army. You'd be suprised.

Some Christians do not read the Word as much as they should - whether educated or uneducated by worldly standards. Jesus was a Jew, but He also believed in His own message. He was and is the author of Christianity in that sense. So it is not wrong for them to state that He was Christian, but He certainly was a Jew.

Of course, on these points, Christianity and Judaism diverge. Also, one must understand that although we recognize Judaism as a religion, many of us view God's work with the Jews as part of the God's entire plan and message of Christianity.