A Pathfinder by Fred Warner
Scope
This Pathfinder is designed to help people understand the diversity of Africa's Christian faith. Human Relations professionals and the people of the Global Community will find resources here to help them better understand Christianity in Africa. Christianity is proclaimed as the religion of 40% of the populous of Africa. As a Muslim, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, or other member of our global community, this project offers insights to the progression of Christianity in Africa that may be similar to the progression of your belief throughout Africa. As a Christian, this project provides resources to broaden your perspective from a familiar structure, Christianity.
Background
Africa and Africans have tremendous potential as the future center of civilization. Religion is one of the foundations of society. As a foundation of society it provides a framework for people to comprehend events that occur which may be beyond an individual's comprehension. One resounding tenet of the major religions of the world is referred to as the "Golden Rule" by Dr. Leonard Swidler in his book "For All Life". It is simply "do to others as you would have others do to you".
Vocabulary
There are many means of searching for information related to Christianity in Africa; several of these include online library catalogs, databases, and both academic and commercial search engines. Below are a few recommended locations for researching Christianity in Africa.
The "HELP" function of Microsoft Search suggests using lowercase letters when typing search words. The rationale is that lowercase words will match any case.
Spelling may not conform to traditional "Western English" as references were found throughout globally available online resources.
Library Catalogs
Many libraries, especially those from colleges and universities, offer their document catalogs online. Recommended catalogs for Christianity in Africa include the
Library of Congress .
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Africa--Philosophy--Religion
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Africa Religion
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African Christian
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Africa Christianity
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African Religion
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Anthropology--Religion--Africa
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Christian--Africa--Periodicals
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Christian Ethics--Africa
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Christianity and other religions--African
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Salvation
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Theology, doctrinal--Africa
Most libraries organize their documents using either the Library of Congress or Dewey Decimal methods of classification (some may use both). In researching Christianity in Africa, the Library of Congress systems seems the most effective; below is a list of LOC call numbers relating to Christianity in Africa.
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BJ1201
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BL2400
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BR128.A16
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BR1359
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BT30.A438
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BV835
Web Search Engines
A significant amount of information about Christianity in Africa and Religion in Africa is available through several academic and commercial search engines. The biggest concern with using information from a web document is the validity and reliability of the information obtained in a large-scale search. researchers must ensure the source of information is credible before using that information for school or commercial purposes. Failing to do so places your credibility in question, while the source you used remains unscathed. One of the best ways to validate credibility is to identify the file extension on the page's URL; usually URLs with an EDU (education), MIL (military), GOV (government), or ORG (organization) extension are reliable. COM (commercial) URL extensions are questionable, due to the motive behind the information gathered may be biased for capital gain and not solely in the "best" interest of the public. Regardless of the URL extension, the researcher should strive to validate web page information by redundancy of information from multiple web pages and sites whenever possible before using the information in any type of research.
The following search engines are especially helpful in researching Christianity in Africa:
Cleversearch (
http://cleversearch.hypermart.net
)
This "meta-engine" accesses the databases of several other online meta-search engines (including MetaCrawler, Google, and Dogpile).
MSN Search (
http://search.msn.com
)
AllAfrica.com (
http://allAfrica.com/search.html
)
"AllAfrica.com, is among the Internet's largest content sites, posting over 700 stories daily in English and French and offering a diversity of multi-lingual streaming programming as well as a 400,000-article searchable archive (which includes the archive of Africa News Service dating from 1997)."
Search these engines using these additional terms for best results:
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African Christianity
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Coptic Christianity
Indexing and Abstracting Services
Below are several databases that contain information about Christianity in Africa and other Religion in Africa related topics. Most are focused toward journal articles, but they may contain literature in other forms of media, including thesis and dissertations. One thing to note is that the subject/keyword terms used to find appropriate literature are rather limited, unlike the online libraries and search engines. For Christianity in Africa, use the following subject terms/keywords in these indexing services.
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Anthropology
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Theology
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African Christianity
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Christian Africa
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Coptic Christianity
The following databases proved to be the best source of information for Christianity in Africa.
Anthropological Index Online (formerly the Royal Anthropology Index)
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The Anthropological Index Online is based on the journal holdings of The Anthropology Library at the British Museum (Museum of Mankind), which receives periodicals in all branches of anthropology, from academic institutions and publishers around the world.
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This service provided global resources that provided multi-cultural perspectives on African Christianity.
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"NISC publishes a full range of bibliographic and full-text databases on the Web and on CD-ROM (Windows 95®, 98®, NT® & 2000®). Since 1990, our database products have been used by university libraries and research centres in nearly every country."
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An exceptional dissertation locating resource. The "browse" function allows you do narrow to a key word search by topical area.
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"The Gateway to Europe's National Libraries" Information from 41 National Libraries throughout Europe from 39 states.
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A direct search link within the British Library. Like Gabriel this British Library site is available in the languages of Europe.
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"The societies seek to further scholarship, research, and teaching in their particular areas and concern themselves with the needs and interests of their members."
Print Resources
Christianity is believed by the Coptic Christians to have been brought to Africa by Saint Mark, one of Jesus' disciples, during the first century while Nero ruled Rome. (according to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt website) According to the British Library, GABRIEL site, there has been European publishing about Africa from the sixteenth century onwards. Though numerous publications are available, the most recent publications will provide perspectives closer to our modern thoughts.
While recent publications offer precepts that are easier for "modern man" to relate to, older texts provide historical perspective. Some of today's issues about African Christianity may have originated during or just prior to the publishing of older books.
Meinardus, Otto Friedrich August. Two thousand years of Coptic Christianity.
Rasmussen, Ane Marie Bak. Modern African spirituality : the independent Holy Spirit churches in East Africa.
Twesigye, Emmanuel K. African Religion, philosophy, and Christianity in Logos-Christ: common ground revisited.
Ross, Robert. Missions and Christianity in South African history.
Mugambi J.N.K and Laurenti Magesa. Jesus in Africa christianity : experimentation and diversity in African.
Atiya, Aziz Suryal. The Copts and Christian civilization.
Oduyoye, Modupe. The planting of Christianity in Yorubaland, 1842-1888.
Tanner, R. E. S. (Ralph E. S.). Transition in African beliefs : traditional religion and Christian change; a study in Sukumaland, Tanzania, East Africa.
Green, Joseph J. (Joseph Joshua). War, is it or is it not consistent with Christianity?
The dissertations and thesis listed below provide several different perspectives on Christianity in Africa. Comments are from the UMI dissertation abstracts provided in the database for the specific dissertation referenced. (minor corrections were made to remove extraneous "html coding" from the text of the abstracts)
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Theological training during the past fifty years of the leaders of the African indigenous/independent/initiated churches (AIC's) had mixed success. Western churches did not really succeed in accommodating indigenous needs or structural traditions. On the other hand the AIC's tended to be suspicious of the motives of Western churches. Therefore they steered away from such places of training or tried to be self-sufficient in training. This dissertation aimed to develop a more credible and viable approach in such training from Biblical and historical perspectives.
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The problem of how African Christians should relate African culture with the Bible has troubled the church in Africa for a long time. People are forced to choose between only what Scriptures say and what African culture says.
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Many African theologians agree that in much of Africa, Christianity has not sunk deep into the lives of the African people. Most attribute this phenomenon to a lack of authenticity in African Christianity: Christianity lacks Africaness. The question is then, How can Christianity be made more African?
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Africans in general agree that in the post-colonial and post-apartheid period it is necessary to develop new structures and a new outlook that transcends tribalism, reconciles native Africans and immigrants from Asia and Europe with one another, and builds bridges between the indigenous cultures of the past and the global culture of modern communications and technology. Liberation theology, based on the Exodus experience of ancient Israel, and a theology of reconstruction and nation-building, based on the Post-exilic history of the Jews, have been used to provide a vision and a framework that have inspired many Africans in their struggle against all vestiges of colonialism and in their efforts to construct new cultural and social structures.
A detailed search of the Library of Congress and other databases for United States of America government documents returned no resources for Christianity in Africa. African government links were found through Wheaton College's African Christianity Mission Link, "Mis Links", listed below. Sixteen of the 56 web sites listed through this site, proclaim "English" as either the official language or one of several within 16 African nations. Search on these sites provided no additional information relevant to African Christianity.
These articles provide perspective on the cultural diversity of Christianity in Africa. Abstracts provided by NISC International Biblioline with each journal article entry. Annotated by "ASC LEIDEN Abstract" statement preceding the abstract.
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ASC LEIDEN Abstract:
The relationship between African religion and Christianity has
significantly changed from what obtained from initial contacts. The new
development and the extensive presence of Christianity on African soil
calls for urgent and sustained dialogue between Christians and
practitioners of African religion (Afrelians). The dialogue must commence
with identifying and stressing the identical elements in the two
religions, such as the belief in the supremacy of a Supreme Being, the
concept of afterlife, as well as certain elements of worship, such as
prayer, singing/dancing and sacrifice.
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ASC LEIDEN Abstract:
Although soteriology, or the doctrine of salvation, has always occupied a
central place in Christian theology, the 'shape of soteriology' has
changed many times as Christianity's centre of gravity shifted to new
cultural contexts. The author points to the new emphasis in Third World
theology generally, and African Christian theology in particular, on the
nature of salvation, as opposed to the agent(s), means and scope of
salvation emphasized in traditional Western soteriology.
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ASC LEIDEN Abstract:
This paper shows how the Kikuyu of central Kenya used biblical and
theological ideas to help fashion their own ethnic identity and history.
Christianity in Kikuyuland is one century old. From the outset there have
been many Kikuyu Christianities. They have differed over their theology,
their spiritual, mental, marital and bodily disciplines, forms of worship
and formulae of self-government, and over how far personal salvation
demands social justice.
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ASC LEIDEN Abstract:
This essay argues that the changed situation of Christianity in the world,
with its centre of gravity in the 'marginalized' and vulnerable southern
continents, gives opportunity for a considerable breakthrough in the
potential role that religious persons and religious communities can play
in the coming new world order.
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ASC LEIDEN Abstract:
As Christianity knows its huge historical impact to have been a mixed
blessing, it feels urged to review its confrontational relations with
other traditions, notably with its co-heirs of the Abrahamic faith. Seeing
itself as social entity identifiable by its 'religion in the face of God',
a view it shares with the other Semitic traditions, Christianity senses
the need to give this a fresh (third) reading, in dialogue with fellow
believers, and in search of the ancient insights on what this face-to-face
may entail.
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ASC LEIDEN Abstract:
One of the developments that characterizes the history of Islam in Nigeria
since independence has been the spread of Islam to non-Muslim areas of
eastern Nigeria. This paper surveys the presence of Muslims in the Niger
Delta and examines the relationship that exists between Muslims and
Christians there and its implications for the growth of Islam in the
region.
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ASC LEIDEN Abstract:
This paper introduces two contrasting views of popular Christianity: the
view of those who accept popular Christianity as a form of inculturation,
be it an unofficial one, and the view of those who reject popular
Christianity as a form of syncretism, as an 'unlawful mixture' of African
religion and Christian tradition.
Online Resources
The proliferation of personal computers is illuminating the previously considered "Dark Continent of Africa". The ability of electronic messaging and media to remove the majority of emotion from the communication processes makes it a valued tool for communicating with peoples of Africa. The following links provide perspectives and links for a wider search on Christianity in Africa.
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European academic perspective on Christianity in Africa.
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AICM is an exciting project of service, founded and directed by Ugandans, but supported by Christians from the richer Western world.
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Stanford University's current initiatives in Africa Christianity.
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African Journals from Africa, the United States, Canada, Europe, and more.
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American collegiate perspective on Africa: Religious Studies.
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Universities in Africa, provide perspective on academia in various countries of Africa.
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The Catholic African World Network (CAWN) was established in 1990 to provide communications services for the 200 million Catholics of African descent throughout the world.
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The United States Central Intelligence Agency "Factbook" is a great resource for economic, demographic, geographic, cultural, organization, and military data about the countries of the world.
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The Coptic Church is based on the teachings of Saint Mark who brought Christianity to Egypt during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero in the first century, a dozen of years after the Lord's ascension.
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Bethel College and Seminary's study of Christianity in Africa.
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Mis Links provides a "web-based directory for missionaries, mission pastors, teachers, and researchers, as well as students of mission and mission agencies." It was started in 1997 and is maintained as a volunteer non-profit service of Scott Moreau and Mike O'Rear of Wheaton College.
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The Project for Information Access and Connectivity (PIAC), which was established in 1997 by the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, collaborated with African grantees and program officers of both foundations on using technology to:
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enhance communications and the ability to work with colleagues and like-minded organizations in Africa and overseas
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improve access to information
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improve the dissemination of African information
Use the following Library of Congress subject headings for the best search results.
(http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/AIO.html)
(http://www.nisc.com) (15 day trial approved for individual)
(http://wwwlib.umi.com/cresearch/gateway/main
)
(http://www.bl.uk/gabriel)
(http://www.blpc.bl.uk)
(http://www.cssr.org/rsr_index.asp)
Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 1999. OCLC NUMBER: 43477347 OCLC NUMBER: 34262886 .
Cairo : American University in Cairo Press, c1999. OCLC NUMBER: 41605633 .
London ; New York : British Academic Press, 1996. ISBN: 186064001X .
New York: P. Lang, 1996. LC: BR128.A16 T93 1996. Dewey Class: 261.2/96 20.
Johannesburg : Witwatersrand University Press, 1995. LC: BV3625.S67 M57 1995 Dewey Class No.: 266/.00968 21.
Nairobi, Kenya : Initiatives Ltd., 1989. LC: BT198 .J468 1989.
Dewey Class No.: 232/.096 20.
Salt Lake City, Utah : Published by the University of Utah Press for the Frederick William Reynolds Association, c1979.
OCLC NUMBER: 5356162 .
Ibadan, Nigeria, Daystar Press 1969. OCLC NUMBER: 327179.
Maryknoll, N.Y., Maryknoll Publications, 1967. OCLC NUMBER: 1105788 .
London, England : Headley Bros., 1901. OCLC NUMBER: 24987792 .
University of Pretoria (South Africa) DAI-A 62/10, p. 3443, (April 2002)
University of Pretoria (South Africa) DAI-A 62/10, p. 3444, (April 2002)
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School DAI-A 62/11, p. 3819, (May 2002)
The Catholic University of America DAI-A 62/02, p. 632, (August 2001)
Africana Marburgensia; vol. 32, no. 1/2, p. 39-56, (1999)
Exchange; vol. 28, no. 3, p. 193-223, (1999)
Journal of Religion in Africa; vol. 29, no. 2, p. 206-229, (1999)
African Affairs; vol. 99, no. 395, p. 303-323, (2000)
Exchange; vol. 29, no. 2, p. 117-134, (2000)
Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs; vol. 20, no. 1, p. 129-136, (2000)
Exchange; vol. 29, no.1, p. 37-60, (2000)