A Multitude of Peoples: The early church in Africa (Part 1)

After discussing Antipas L. Harris' Is Christianity The White Man's Religion?, I knew immediately the next book I wanted to explore on the topic of reading the Bible in color: A Multitude of All Peoples: Engaging Ancient Christianity's Global Identity by Vince L. Bantu.

Quite simply, this book took my breath away.

Bantu takes the reader through a thorough description of the history of the Church, starting with the issue of why Christianity is so often associated with the Western world, even "though the majority of Christians now live in the Global South" (page 1). But what I want to focus on are the next few chapters, because the wealth in them is incredible. 

Even just focusing this post on Africa is too much to really fit into one post, so I'm going to write in bullet points below. While I have known that truth behind the premise of this book (that Christianity is a global religion and the non-Western world had a big impact and presence on it throughout the last 2 millennia), I learned a lot. Here are just a few things I learned specifically about the early church in Africa:

• Alexandria and Egypt represent the gateway for Christianity in Africa, which attributes the spread of the Gospel to the Apostle Mark. "Alexandria was one of the largest and most cosmopolitan cities of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity—a meeting point of Hellenistic, Jewish, native Egyptian, and other influences. (pp. 72-73, 74)
• Among the Biblical fragments from 2nd-century Egypt is a fragment of the Gospel of John, which is the earliest material evidence of a canonical New Testament text (p. 73).
• Theologians Clement (Egypt), Origen (Egypt), Irenaeus (Libya), Tertullian (Libya), Augustine (Algeria), and so many more were from Africa.
• The painting of the nativity in the monastery at the capital of Dongola from the late 10th century "represents early evangelization efforts from the Nile Valley Christians of Nubia to cultures further south and west in the African continent. The Gospel had already been spreading along the Nile river from Egypt to Nubia and then Ethiopia. This painting represents the continued spread of the gospel from Africans to neighboring Africans. If the Western church had not condemned, oppressed, and isolated the early African church, leaving it open to Islamic domination, the Gospel may have continued to spread to the extremities of the African continent at an early period. Yet this painting raising the intriguing potential of Western and Central African Christians before the advent of Western colonialism" (page 95).

I'm going to stop here and continue this topic next week, because that's exactly what the above quote did to me when I read it: it stopped me in my tracks. It reminded me of Marvel's Black Panther*, and how it is a powerful, undeniable visual of how Africa's story was violently disrupted by Western colonialism in the worst way. This also includes the history of the African church, which is rich beyond what any of us can fully imagine.

What about you? Were any of the above points new information for you? Does it impact or change your understanding of the early church and the history of Christianity at all? I'd love to read your thoughts in the comments below!

*I wrote this post on Thursday, Aug 27, 2020, and in the writing of it, experienced a renewed desire to re-watch Black Panther. The next night, while staying with a friend, we made plans to watch it on Saturday. After that conversation, I opened my phone and read the shocking news that Chadwick Boseman, the actor playing BP’s main character, King T’Challa had passed away after a 4-year silent war with cancer. Since then, I’ve re-watched the movie 2x, and am still amazed at the incredible- and important- world of Wakanda.

Historic Peace Treaty between Israel and the UAE

Back in June, I talked about how Israel was supposed to annex Gaza and the West Bank on July 1. As time passed, I wondered what happened; why I wasn't reading stories saying "it happened". Then, last week, this incredible news was announced:

WOW!

The United Arab Emirates has become the 3rd Arab nation to strike a peace deal with Israel, the first being Egypt in 1967 and Jordan in 1994.

According to Amir Tsarfati of Behold Israel, "Israel and the UAE have been working together in developing new methods to more efficiently combat COVID-19. As part of this new partnership, the two countries will share in trade, travel, tourism, and even technology." Behold Israel notes that while Palestine, Iran, and Turkey are against this peace deal, other Arab states support it (and might even follow with their own). In fact, one report I heard said that OMan will sign one in the next 2 weeks and Bahrain will follow (Bahrain has already picked out a building for an Israeli embassy!), Morocco, and then maybe even Saudi Arabia. Already Saudi Arabia is allowing Israeli flights to cross their airspace to get to the UAE. 

For more of the implications of this peace deal, you can watch Amir Tsarfati's update here:

What do you think of this historic event?

Important Pupdate!

We interrupt your normally scheduled post for this BIG (teeny) announcement: 

My family got a puppy! I'm so excited! We were so heartbroken over losing our precious Mitsi in June, and then God led my parents and I to this little red girl from Talladega, Alabama. 

Introducing Annie Reba Fancypants! She’ll go by Annie and her initials spell “ARF”. She is 9 weeks old, as sweet as a dewdrop on a peach tree, and has already stolen our hearts with her bright eyes, puppy prance, and southern accent. 🐩💖💃🏽 👢

Needless to say, the past few days (and the next few weeks) are going to be very full of puppydom. It's already been an adventure re-entering this world. Annie is so precious and as sweet as can be! We've only had her 36 hours and she already knows where her bowls are and is pottying outside like a pro. Now to just get her to used to the crate at night. Prayers appreciated! 

We know nothing can replace Mitsi, and we aren't trying to. But it's so wonderful to have a buddy again! You can see more pictures and videos of her at Instagram: annie.reba.fancypants and FB: annierebafancypants.

Acts of Faith Series

Continuing with the theme of the Early Church, I want to share about this really cool series I read a few years ago. The Acts of Faith series is fiction, set in the time of the crucifixion and right after. It follows characters like a Roman-centurion-turned-Christian, the disciples, Stephen and so many more.

Essentially, it's a fictional retelling of the beginning of the book of Acts.

What I love about this series is how the authors brought that world to life. Suddenly, the reader is immersed in the culture and issues of the day. What does it mean for the Roman centurion who now is a follower of the Way? What is it like to be a Jew and suddenly also be a Christian—in a very Jewish culture? How does it feel to be "figuring Christianity out" in this world?

The scene that hit me the most in this series is with Ananias and Sapphira. The reader is right there, seeing Ananias bring his offering, lie, and drop dead, and then the same happening with Sapphira. To us, it's a retelling of a story we know—no big deal. But to the early church... wow. Can you imagine being there that day and seeing what happened? Or hearing about it after? What would your first thought have been after? Would you have been afraid? 

Obviously, the seriousness of what it meant to become a follower of Christ isn't lost on them, as so many were witnesses to Jesus' crucifixion, burial, and resurrection. But, the "stakes" don't stop there, as now they are trying to figure out what it means to be the Church... and it's not in a bubble, but right in the heart of the Roman Empire, where followers of Jesus are actively being persecuted and killed. 

Unfortunately, this series ends WAY too soon. I was SO EXCITED to get to Paul's story and his journeys, but it stops abruptly. It's still a wonderful read; I just hope that one day I can read the re-telling of the rest of the Acts story through this series!