Loading ...The Triumph (for now) of Christianity in Africa
flockwoodThere’s a greatstory in The Economist about religious affiliations in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is based on a new study funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Templeton Foundation.
You can look at reams of pages of data in the report — or simply take a look at the graphic at the top of the Economist. It tells the story.
In 1900, most Africans followed tribal religions. Islam was the second largest religion. Christianity was barely a blip on the map. 110 years later, Christianity is the dominant religion. It’s one of the great Christian missionary success stories in the history of Christendom.
April 15th, 2010 at 10:36 am
I wrote about this almost two years ago. http://religionnewsblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/continuing-growth-of-christianity-in.html
It is not reported, nor updated in religion textbooks, I think because of the liberal legacy of trying to connect Christianity with oppression and colonialism.
Liberals really don’t like the idea of Africa being conservative Christian.
It confuses their mental categories, in which conservative Christians are White, and bad, while Africans/blacks are liberal, and good.
April 15th, 2010 at 10:45 am
What exactly does the “for now” mean in the title of this post, anyway? Are you implying Christianity will fade away in the future? Please explain?
April 15th, 2010 at 11:50 am
Justin says: “It confuses their mental categories, in which conservative Christians are White, and bad, while Africans/blacks are liberal, and good.”
Well, Justin, I suppose the recent history the Episcopal Church has had with its African brethren shows them to be neither liberal nor good, if you define good as following the Anglican Communion’s rules.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:53 am
I went and read the blog post to which Justin refers. One sentence of it says: “Nigeria, the largest country in Africa with over 135 million people, is over 40% Christian, but 50% Muslim.”
This ties in with an interview I read recently with Bishop Akinola, one of the rabblerousers among the Africans. He candidly admitted that the Anglican church in Nigeria could not go along with the majority view of the Communion, in favor of full participation for gays and lesbians, because the muslims in his area were very firm against homosexuality, as was the native culture of the people. Therefore, the more modern views of the rest of Anglicanism were shut out not because they were wrong, but because they wouldn’t sell.
It’s interesting to see the effects that the cultural stereotypes of one religion have on everything else.
April 15th, 2010 at 11:55 am
“for now” is the consolation for liberal for changing world
April 16th, 2010 at 9:12 am
Justin,
The article said nothing about political perspectives, only religious affiliation. Christianity and conservatism are not mutually exclusive. There are plenty of liberals and other people who don’t fall under the liberal-conservative dichotomy who believe in the message of Jesus. And there are plenty of conservatives who do not. Religion is hardly a perfect indicator of politics, especially in the twenty-first century. Economic status will tell you far more about a person’s political beliefs than religion. Come off your reliance upon stereotypes, Justin, and judge people for whom they are, not by invented labels.
The reason this is not mentioned in textbooks is because it’s a petty, superficial achievement. Whether they consider themselves Christians, Muslims, or whatever, there are still genocidal dictatorships in Africa, and religion has not stopped them from killing and displacing millions of men, women, and children. A lack of belief in the supernatural was never the problem in Africa. Greed, tribalism, dictators, slave labor, cheap weapons, genocide, disease, hunger, and widespread racial prejudice are the real problems. Whoever can cure these ails deserves real praise. The label the people of Africa attach to themselves to describe what god they worship is a non-issue.
April 16th, 2010 at 9:15 am
Julian,
(For now) is merely recognition that change occurs. So long as the story of mankind is still unfolding, Frank can’t say that Africa will henceforth be a majority Christian continent forever.
April 20th, 2010 at 6:02 am
In Africa, if your white. you can’t own a majority interest in a business. This is a nation still in transition, trying to right hundreds of years of wrong doing by its government and as history has pointed out, white rule of oppression.
April 20th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Well, Perplexed, let’s slice the cheese a little thinner than that. “Africa” is a whole continent. I suspect your comment was directed to one country in that continent, perhaps South Africa or Zimbabwe. Certainly Africa is an extraordinarily troubled continent with a huge potential if its component parts can ever get their acts together. And the western world hasn’t exactly been helpful. This just goes to show the truth of the Biblical axiom that one reaps what one sows: We enslaved Africans for centuries, took over their land as colonies, imposed our religion on them, and now are surprised when they’re just a wee bit leery of us.