Church history part 10
The earliest contact between Africa and European Christian Missionaries was in the late 15thcentury when Roman Catholic missionaries accompanied the earliest Portuguese traders to Africa and Asia. There was little progress in converting Africans until a succession of protestant missionary societies in the 18th and 19th centuries [1700s & 1800s]. Both state denominations like Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed and Independent ones like Moravians, Methodists, Baptists whose priests/pastors served as chaplains for the imperialists while some genuinely wanted to evangelise locals.
For example, in South Africa, Boers settled in the Cape with their own Dutch Reformed church who never reached out to the locals, believing they are “beyond redemption” [like animals] until a certain Moravian preacher arrived.
This era was followed by (or ran parallel to) colonisation of Africa by Britain, France, Portugal, Germany … who believed they had 'a divine right to rule lesser races’. This led to the belief that Christianity is a white man’s [European] religion even though it started in Middle East i.e. Israel where ‘Jesus was born in the flesh’ though He existed before Adam. Christianity first came to Africa in the first century through Philip’s witness to the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8) during the times of the Apostles, 1500 years earlier than Europeans. But it didn’t take continental root until modern times.
The missionaries’ chief fault was failure to differentiate their European culture largely influenced by is called the Enlightment era (jumpstarted by the Reformation). Enlightenment was a transition to modern scientific thinking, throwing away the Church-dominated medieval age in European civil life. It’s side effect was anti-supernatural, skeptical rationalism and deism in church which tends to dismiss anything supernatural, God included. Just like mainstream Catholics (except mystics), protestant fathers like Luther, Calvin hardly believed in evil spirits, miracles, divine healing etc.
When missionaries came to Africa and encountered people who believe in existence of [good and evil] spirits exist they rejected everything as imaginary even though it was in the missionary’s Bible.
Eventually European Christianity prevailed and became the foundation for development. In west African countries like Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria where Europeans focused on trade of gold and humans and Christianity took off in the 1800s as some locals became preachers reaching out to their own people.
In Southern Africa it was the likes of David Livingstone [1813 – 1873] who doubled as missionary and explorer,’. With the help of locals, Livingstone went deep inland as far as Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Namibia, D.R.Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Burundi and Tanzania before they were even roads or cars, braving the treacherous and dangerous Zambezi basin.
He became the first European to see, not ‘discover’ the mighty Victoria falls - they were local Tonga people living there.
It is said he struggled to convert chief Sechele because Livingstone could not demand rain from his God like Sechele’s rainmakers.
Overall in Africa in the 1800s, as a result of then dominant cessationist-like view [supernatural/miracles ceased with death of 12 Apostles] the few local converts became ‘nominal’ Christians. When confronted with existential issues of life, they found their new religion powerless, and would visit the witch doctors and later anti-witch ‘prophets’. It’s taken many years to unbundle Culture and Christianity, to be able see the pure Gospel.
It also led to new cults who fell to the opposite extreme in trying to counter correct – chiefly Pan-African theology and some white garment Zionist Aladura ‘apostolic’ churches often abbreviated by western theologians as AICs (African Instituted/Independent Churches). Their chief accusation is Syncretism – which combining Christianity with traditional African spiritual practices.
The missionaries’ great success came through establishing education schools, translation and publishing of the Bible in local languages which later allowed the African to read the Bible and become preachers. This combined effect alongside decolonisation movements & Pentecostalism in the 1900s finally established Christianity in Africa. As Africa grew into Christianity in the late 1900s, in Europe Europeans began to is backslide, many turning to atheism. And now African ministers i.e. former pagans are now taking the Gospel back to the former missionaries – in what is now called reverse missionary. But most repeat the same mistakes of exporting the Gospel with their own entrenched African worldview and culture.
After the 1950s (20th century) the Church in Africa had distinctly American characteristics, how did it come about?
Turning to America.
The First Awakening of the 1700s led by John Wesley and others came the Second Awakening of the 1800s led by Charles Finney & others. Charley Finney is a colorful character, a man ahead of his season, whose impact is understated. AM Hills in his book, Life of Charles Finney is heartwarming and recommended. Finney fought against cold religion and passive Christianity, insisting a person can be immediately converted to the extent of fully knowing their eternal status regarding heaven rather than wait and hope in uncertainty - which was then the prevailing teaching. Just a day after his conversion, he converted many to Christ, immediately launching a full-fledged revival upon a whole town -- a revival that did not stop until it had swept through nearly the entire county.
These intense seasons of awakening also affected traditional denominations like Anglicans and Catholics towards an evangelical leaning, while the evangelical movement leaned backwards to meet with the other denominations at place of compromise, becoming accepted traditions, although they started as revival movements. The second awakening came because the evangelicals had lost their fire which is almost the same story with most denominations around 100 years old or 3rd generation. Look around for churches that are around 100 years or more they are a likely a shadow of their former self, you may not see it only by observing them today but by reading their history [provided it has not been revised/tempered].
Remember information wars?
Top evangelical preachers Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield [the least prejudiced of the day] owned slaves and believed that blacks would acquire absolute equality with whites in the Millennial church ie to say in the distant future. Many writers either miss or deliberately ignore this because they take a western-angle.
By the mid 1800s the fire, spiritual manifestations like shaking, convulsions, laughing, falling, trembling, which critics called them Methodist fits – common at John Wesley’s meetings as recorded in his diary - had almost disappeared. A new generation had risen that found those things ‘offensive’ i.e. inconsistent with their theological expertise and attempted to even delete them from their history. Same with Presbyterians and Baptist who had such manifestations in their early revivals (Cambuslang, Scotland and Cane ridge, US) with trances, ‘faintings’ etc. In the 1960s the Baptists republished a book about tone of their greatest revival – but they cut out all the manifestations - maybe because such had come to be associated with ‘uncultured’ Pentecostals. Randy Clark found the original from their library (Shantung Revival) and published it.
By the late 1800s century there was such a moving away from original Wesleyan beliefs/experiences of a second definite work of grace. The preachers ‘professional sophisticated scientists’ similar to Enlightenment era-driven religion in Europe, robbed of the divine/supernatural. This prompted a new renewal to restore original Methodism seeking for Spirit baptism and divine healing. As a result of this quest and resistance to it by the religious establishment, healing became the most controversial subject in Christianity from 1875 to 1900. For many centuries the Church no longer believed in divine healing but emergence of controversial characters like John Alexander Dowie, Mari Woodworth-Etter and many others who not only believed that healing is for today but dramatically demonstrated it with instant miracles. However, two people who controlled media defeated it. B.B. Warfield a Presbyterian and James who controlled the Methodist paper which was the largest Christian newspaper.
They wrote in such a way that if you believed in healing you should not even be considered a Christian, you were a lost fanatic, an enthusiast – a very bad word at the time – since religion ‘should be very rational and reasonable, away of feeling and emotion’. The average Christiaan was intimidated and didn’t want to be associated with the ‘bad guys’. Warfield & James won. No wonder the average American Christian today is anti-supernatural.
The core Wesleyans within Methodism felt they were being ostracized and shut out of leadership structures.
Resultantly 25 new denominations (eg Nazarene) were formed in the USA within that short period - almost all were splintering out of Methodist, birthing the holiness movement with figures like Dwight Moody who started/popularised the modern Sinner’s Prayer. Out of this came the Pentecostal movement literally on the first day of the 20th century [1 Jan 1901] and became a Global Revival led by William Seymour a former slave. They sent preachers to every continent emphasising the book of Acts claiming it shows ‘purer’ Christianity in action as it was in the beginning.
Forget about the famous American TV evangelists ‘anointed’ preachers, some of them are not that famous/celebrated in their country, often viewed and labelled as deceivers, false prophets etc. Just do a Google internet search on some of the ‘big names’ and read the articles and comments. It is only recently that the mainstream American church is warming up to Pentecostals/charismatics – a growing minority in the USA and Europe but a majority elsewhere. Some classical Pentecostals are already leaning backwards.
Furthermore top websites that display on first page when you search the Internet propagate western-cultured Christianity most of which is Cessationist. For example, Gotquestions website shows up top although with good articles but also ones that deny that miracles, gifts of the Spirit etc are for today. Spiritual warfare as Paul expressed extends to societal control through information/knowledge (2 Cor 10v4,5).