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THE EARLY CHRISTIANS
The origin of Coptic Christianity
For nearly fifteen years, from the foundation of the first Phoenician colonies in North Africa about the eighteenth century before Christ until the Arab conquest of the seventh century after the birth of Jesus Christ, nearly all Africans living to the North of the Sahara belonged to the Mediterranean civilisation.
The Phoenician merchants were the first who brought Mediterranean civilisation to North Africa. At first, they were interested in trade. They established staging posts along the North of African coast, and the most important of them was Carthage. Later on, Carthage became the metropolis of a series of towns stretching along the North African shore. Its growth was extraordinary because even the Tunisian plain became a Carthaginian estate. Thus, throughout North-West Africa, the Phoenician language, the Punic, became the “Lingafranca” of trade, administration and civilised life.
On the other hand, in Sicily and elsewhere in the Northern half of the Mediterranean, Greek colonies competed with the Phoenicians, but the Carthaginians successfully kept them out of the North Africa west of the Gulf of Cirtes. But it was only in Cyrenaica and Egypt that the Greek civilisation was able to settle in North Africa. Egypt, then, became the major channel for Greek influence on Africa, with Alexandria as its greatest city.
In the middle of the second century before Christ, the soldiers of the Roman Republic finally humbled the Carthaginians by tearing down the city of Carthage. After that, the Numidian kingdoms were also conquered, and the Romans quickly occupied the whole of the coastal strip westwards to the Atlantic plains of Morocco as well. Besides, during the first century before Christ, both Cyrenaica and Egypt also came under Roman control.
The Romans possessed an African empire reaching from east to west. But there were three areas of particular interest ti the Romans: the provinces of “Africa”(equivalent to modern Tunisia and the adjacent coastlands if Tripolitania) and Numidia (the eastern half of modern Algeria), and Egypt. Thus, Christianity at that time was the religion of both Egypt and the provinces of “Africa” and Numidia brought by the Romans.
However, early in the fourth century after the death of Christ, there were doctrinal disagreements concerning the nature of Christ (Christology) in the formulation of the Nicene Creed which was still used by all the major branches of the Christian Church. In Egypt, Alexandria was the native city of both Athanase and Arius who both had their doctrine concerning the nature of Christ. Arius was the father of Arianism which denied Jesus-Christ. This was condemned by the Nicene Creed and considered as a heresy by the Christian Church of Rome. But another doctrine appeared again in Alexandria with Athanase who affirmed that Christ, as the incarnation of the Second person in the Trinity which is the Word “The Word became flesh”(in The Holy Bible – New Testament – John Chapter1 Verse 14), took form of one nature, that is, the Word took the place of the Human nature and has made up of one nature (divine nature) with the flesh (Monophysism). But this Monophysite view of the nature of Christ was condemned by the council of Chalcedon, who affirmed Christ’s nature as two: a divine nature (the Son of God) and a human nature (the Son of Mary) which are both worthy of respect.
Despite this condemnation in 451, the native Egyptians developed a deep loyalty to their “Coptic” church, the Coptic Church of Egypt with the Patriarch of Alexandria, Dioscore (444 – 451) as the head of the Church. (“Copt” means “Egyptian”. The Copts were those who remained Christians during the Arab conquest).
In the sixth century, the church sent missions to the Nubian kingdom and converted the kings and courts of Nubia in the North and Alwa in the South. Ethiopia was converted by Egyptian and Syrian missionaries, and followed the Monophysite path.
The Coptic Christianity in Africa
The Ethiopian church
The Ethiopian Church appears in the 4th century of our era. It was at that time the most meridional of all the great numbers of Christian churches which emigrated to the Nile valley and disappeared when the Muslims had conquered one by one each Christian kingdom of Nubia.Only the Ethiopian Church was still in existence at that period.
In the reign of Ezna (325 – 350), thanks to the big harbour of Adoulis near Massawa, the Axoumites took an important part in the trade in the Red sea. They got in touch with the Roman Empire and Christianity very early. Thus, Ethiopia was envagelised by Frumence, a Syrian trader who built the Ethiopian Monophysit Church in 340. He was, then, appointed as the first bishop or abouna by the Patriarch of Alexandria, Saint Athanase.
During that period, Emperor Ezna converted into Christianity and consequently brought a portrait of the people of Ethiopia which distinguished them from the neighbouring countries: the union between the empire and the Church that could not be dissolved.
Despite the persecution done by the Pagans and the Muslims, the Church spread all over the town and strengthened increasingly. Some Pagans’ temples were even modified into places where Christians can worship.
Starting from the 7th century, the Ethiopian Church was isolated from the Christian world by the Muslims. However, it could keep its original characters and rites such as dancing and playing drums during the liturgy, a distinctive feature of African worship. It also uses the “gueze” or the standard Ethiopian language in the liturgy. Besides, the Jews had influenced Ethiopia; therefore, the Ethiopian Church observes some Judaic customs such as circumcision, the observance of Sabbath including Sunday, the abstinence of pork and the practice of not bleeding meat. The inside of the Church reminds us of the Jerusalem temple. The most spectacular religious edifice of the Ethiopian Church was the monolith church of Lalibela which was dug inside mountains surrounded by upright natural wall and hidden behind them as well.
In the reign of Emperor Sousneyos (1607 – 32), some Portuguese Roman – Catholic missionaries came to preach Catholicism. In 1620, one of the missionaries, Pedro Perez built a Roman – Catholic cathedral named “Maryam – Ghemb” which means “Mary’s Castle”. The style and the foreign aspect of the cathedral had attracted the Emperor and made him sign an agreement by which he accepted that the Ethiopian Church submits to the Pope of Rome instead of the Patriarch of Alexandria. Certain chiefs highly appreciated the missionaries’ sincerity and their knowledge. They even hoped that this submission would improve the Ethiopian civilisation. Unfortunately, that was not the case, because the Roman –Catholic missionaries wanted to change or, in fact, “to latinize” the Ethiopian Church by emphasizing the divergence between the two doctrines. As a result, the faithful clergy of the Ethiopian orthodoxy rebelled against them. Then, a civil war tore down the country. Emperor Sousneyos was forced to give up the throne on July 1632 and the new Emperor, Fasilidas (1632 – 37) inaugurated his reign by expelling the Roman – Catholic Fathers out of Ethiopia.
For more than fifteen centuries, the Ethiopian Church had always been under the protection of Alexandria’s Church, the only church with which they could have regular relations. The bishop was always chosen among the Egyptian monks in the convent of Saint Antoine near the Red Sea. It was only in 1929 that Alexandria agreed that the Egyptian abouna should have a suffragan bishop to manage the part of the diocese.
Under favour of the Italian occupation in 1936, an entire Ethiopian hierarchy was settled down. But at the time of independence in 1941, they were accused of cooperating with Italians. So the Egyptian abouna took back his former authority. However, people still had that lively idea of national hierarchy. In 1949, Alexandria allowed henceforth the abouna to be Ethiopian. In 1959, the Ethiopian Church became independent.
For centuries, this church had always bent and sometimes submitted to the Muslim domination. But thanks to the initiative of the Ethiopian emperor, Hailé Selassié the first, their chiefs could meet for the first time, in fifteen centuries, in the conference of Adis-Abbeba on January1965. Besides, a lot of ecumenical relationships were established among the Orthodox and even with the Catholic Churches in 1967.
Picture2: The members of Clergy in the Coptic Church.
The clerical education passing the learning of Guèze is offered in the schools for monastery. Here, a deacon is learning beside the eldery priests in a monastery in Axoum (Tigre) 5
Picture3: A priest of the Ethiopian Church with his liturgic dress, holding two processional crosses, a specific emblem for this church (p173)
Picture4: The Clergy celebrating Christmas
Christmas day in Lalibela (7th January). The monks are clothed in white. They are playing the trumpet and making a line on the side of a cliff whereas the priests, under them, are doing the liturgic dance to celebrate Christ’s birth (p40)
THE AFRICAN MUSLIMS
The repartition of Islamic tribes in Black Africa
Islam, like Christianity, has penetrated to Africa a few years after its birth. This religion venerates Mahomet whom the Muslims consider as the greatest prophet of all and who preached the submission to a unique God, Allah. In 640 of our era, that is six years after Mahomet’s death, some of his Arab adepts started the conquest of Egypt.
The essential doctrine of the Muslim faith is the belief in a unique God and the profession of this faith which is one of the « five columns » of Islam. The daily prayer, the alms giving, the pilgrimage to the Mecca – if it is possible – and the fasting during the Ramadan, are the other four columns. Mahomet’s teachings were recorded in the Holy Book of Qu’ran. Christianity considered the translation of the Bible as important whereas the Muslims worked on the teaching of Arabic so that the Book could be accessible for everybody in its original language. That was why the development of Islam went on with the diffusion of Arabic. Nowadays the most orthodox of Muslims still refuse to translate the Qu’ran.
In the northern part of Africa, after the Arabs had conquered Egypt, Islam slowly progressed among the people on the coast and the inside. But as time has passed, all the people, except the Coptic believers of Egypt, deeply became Muslims. Thus, Islam became the religion of the State.
On the Second period, Islam reached the Sahara, then Western Africa and Sudan. It was the traders, the caravans and the adepts who worked on the propagation of the Islamic faith to the Sudanese people at that period. The black people showed tolerance, Muslim and Pagan quarters were even placed side by side in some cities like Koumbi, the Ghanaian capital. Islam was well received by the princes. However, Islam did not go far beyond the ruling class. It was only from the eleventh century that conversion spread all over the tribes.
First of all, it has reached the Toucouleur of the Tekrour kingdom in Senegal, the very first Sudanese kingdom which adopted Islam. After that, the Sonrhaïs of Niger who were converted to Islam in the tenth century. A beautiful Islamic civilization spread out in that territory including Mali, Niger and a part of the present Nigeria. But they were not always lucky in the attempt to convert the Mossi, their neighbours to Islam. Then, it has reached the Sarakolé of the black empire of Ghana, who were converted by the Almoravides, a monastery founded by Ibn Yacin who settled in the island of Senegal. The Sarakolé were converted or killed at that time. The Toucouleurs, in their turn, have actively spread the religion and converted their neighbours, the Wolofs and the Peuls. Thanks to the “djihad” or the holy war led by a literate Peul called Usman dan Fodio, the Peuls have succeeded in putting under their domination a wide territory in the north of the present Nigerian States, and the Haoussa states which were only converted in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Finally, the kingdom of Kanem, Bornu and Baguirmi in the central part of Sudan were converted from the eleventh century. In the sixteenth century, Bornu was the most powerful kingdom of Black Africa in the military field. At the end of the sixteenth century, the Wadaï, Darfour, and Kordof kingdoms were conquered by the Arabs and thus became Muslims. Christianity had sprung to that territory after the end of the Meroe kingdom in 330. It is only in the sixteenth century that Islam had definitely conquered the Nubian kingdom. On the other hand, they could not conquer Ethiopia, the heir of the ancient Axoum.
On the Indian Ocean coast, Islam appeared in the tenth century brought by the Arab navigators and the Persians. That could be the reason why Arab influence was seen among the Bantu people and their language the Swahili. However, its influence was limited. In the eighteenth century, the Sultan of Mascate took profit of the Portuguese power being disintegrated to conquer a wide part of the coast. He even fixed Zanzibar as both its capital and an Islamic centre. Apart from that, there were some Muslim centres which were scattered in Kenya and especially in Tanganyika.
Though Islam had conquered lots of territories in Black Africa, it was nevertheless unable to conquer tribes such as the Bambara and the Mossi. The Mossi grimly rebelled against Islam. This kingdom was founded by the aristocrats from the region of Tchad. The kingdom organised itself both on military and theocratic lines. They always fought against the Sonrhaïs and Peuls. The Malinké in the Mali Empire had also resisted Islam but when they were converted in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, they put out a great deal of energy in leading the Holy war.
Not only the resistance of some tribal groups but also the impassable forests and swampland of the Sudan limited the expansion of Islam. The people of the humid part of Sudan were immensely divided and very hostile to strangers. Their king, both a priest and a rainmaker, clearly opposed the penetration of Muslim armies and marabouts (Muslim priests). Some Sudanese tribes has succeeded in keeping their traditional beliefs whether because of strong socio – religious organization (Bambara, Dogons) or because of political strength (Mossi). Moreover, the geography of some regions where high mountains constituted natural fortresses as the Lobi territory at the Baoutchi plateau. Another obstacle to the spreading of Islam can be found in the absence of political organization of such people as the Bobo.
The Muslims’ culture and society
Islam had transformed the appearance of the regions converted to this religion. For example, Timbuctu and Gao were built with terrace and patios and with heavy doors. However, in other regions, nothing had changed. Their houses were the same as they used to be: matted – houses, round huts or huts made of clay. A cactus – like minaret of mosques can also be seen in towns.
The use of ornaments was proportionally important on matters of clothing. The Muslim regions were then particularly interesting in this field. The pockets the neck – openings, the back and the front of the loose garments named « boubous » were sumptuously embroidered. Thus, the embroidered tunic of the Haoussa has become the dress to be worn on feasts in the region of Cameroon, Nigeria, Western Sudan and by the Touaregs of the Sahara. Apart from the boubou, the Muslims put on a turban or a skull – cap as well, but many of them go bare – headed.
The expansion of Muslims has also given rise to the islamisation fo the African music among the wide areas fo Black Africa. Simultaneously, the Negro – African musical rhythms had deeply influenced some regions of North Africa as well, such as Southern Morocco. The Muslim Sudan was once one of the regions where islamised musical rhythms prevailed. In Eastern Africa, the musical aspects with that of the Muslims can also be found very far in the inside of the regions to the South of Uganda and on tha coastal part of the Indian Ocean as well. Some musical instruments were also introduced by the Arabs such as the one – stringed viol.
Concerning the religious practice, the prayer was to be done in a suitable way in order to show that it is a virtue. Thus, the gestures were to be fitted to that virtue that is, the orientation, the genuflexion and the prostration. It is important to have some dust on the forehead after prostrating. The fasting is observed during which they do not go without either tobacco or women. Pork is forbidden very strictly whereas they do not pay much attention to the alcoholic drinks. The practice of alms giving is especially practised by the marabouts. However, the Muslim feasts are big occasions for entertainment. The pilgrimage to the Mecca is rare but there is local pilgrimage instead.
Concerning the customs, women are rarely cloistered. Besides, the weddings more or less follow the traditional rites. The circumcision has decreased perhaps, thanks to the Muslim Qu’ran schools. The number of young boys, who attended the traditional schools in which circumcision is included among the education had decreased. It is worth stating that circumcision in Africa was not always the result of the adoption of the Muslim faith. Circumcision had always been a custom or in fact an initiation rite for the Africans.
The Muslim Qu’ran school
It was noted before that the diffusion of the Muslim faith went on with the teaching of Arabic so that the believers could read the Qu’ran in its original language. Thus, they built the Muslim Qu’ran School for that reason.
In the Islamic teaching, there are two levels: the Khalwa which is the elementary level, and the Madrassa or Medersa which is the higher level.
In the Khalwa, the knowledge of Qu’ran by heart is emphasized and they spend a lot of time learning the « Sourates or surate » (Sūra, the Chapters and verses in the Qu’ran) by heart. Besides, this level enables the students to know the rituals and their practice. In the Madrassa level, the students examine the Qu’ran deeply, learn the philosophy, the Law and sometimes acquire some scientific knowledge.
The time devoted to each subject varies according to the taste and the capacity of the students and the teachers. However, a mediocre student stays in the elementary level during four years and some more years in the higher level. In the advanced level, the student is sometimes obliged to travel to look for a qualified teacher for either of the subjects. In the Muslim Qu’ran school, there is neither constraint nor fixed period for the students to go to school. The schools are opened from Saturday till Wednesday and the school – year is divided into two semesters separated by three weeks’ vacation at the time of the big religious feasts. The courses are two or three times a week, very early in the morning, late in the afternoon and in the evening sitting by the fire. In this case, the students are able to go to the Western type of school, mainly built by the missionaries, during the day.
Picture5: A Muslim teacher, clothed in white, teaching in the road of Kano in the North of Nigeria.
The students are writing on a kind of mantel board made of wood. (p101)
Picture6: The musicians of the Emir’s court
The musicians of the Emir’s court are playing music in front of their master’s palace with vividly coloured muslim clothes. (p 95)
THE EVANGELISATION OF THE BLACK AFRICANS BY EUROPEANS
EXPLORATIONS AND ADVENTURES EXPEDITIONS
Up to the Middle Ages (600 – 1500), the African continent remained unknown to the Europeans. Some caravans had gone across the Sahara and reached Sudan. However, their information was so indefinite that geographers were unable either to draw conclusions or to make scientific analyses of Africa. When the stories from the caravans had reached Europe, the Portuguese explored the coast. They crossed the Cap Verde in 1446, and discovered Sierra Leone in 1460, and Gold Coast in 1471. In 1488, Barthelemy Dias went around the African coast and found the Cape of Good Hope. Later, explorers came to Africa for various reasons: scientific curiosity, evangelisation. “They had been led by adventure, greed or even in some cases altruism.” 6 All of them had helped geographers to lay out the maps of Africa and to open a new road for commerce.
Here are some famous explorers who were of great help for the discovery of the interior of Africa.
a) The exploration of Niger:
Mungo PARK (1795 – 1806)
He went from Gambia to Bondou and reached Dina in 1796. Then he went to Segou and reached the village of Villa. But because of sickness, he went back to Gambia. He took another direction to the South to Bamako. Before his journey, Senegal and Gambia were not well known to the geographers.
Denham and Clapperton (1823 – 1825)
They left Tripoli in 1822 and crossed the desert. The expedition reached Bilma in the beginning of 1823. They reached Lake Tchad, then Kouka (Bornu’s capital). They continued westward and reached Sokoto in March 1823. They came back to Kouba and went back to England. In 1825, Clapperton left England and went to Sokoto. From there he reached Badagry (the South Coast) accompanied by Richard LANDER. They reached Katounga (the Yoruba kingdom) and reached Niger without difficulty. They went northward and reached Sokoto again.
The LANDER brothers (1830)
They landed at Badagry on 31st of March 1830 and crossed Worro, Jenna and Oyo. They went on to the north and reached Bussa. After, they sailed along the lower Niger and Reached the Sea.
b) The exploration of Tchad including the finding of Timbuctu
Gordon LAING (1825 – 1826)
He left London in 1825 and landed at Tripoli. Then, he reached Timbuctu on 8th of April in 1826.
However, further information concerning Timbuctu was mostly given by René CAILLÉ.
From 1824 to 1825, he made a trip with the Moors Brakna on the Senegal’s shore. It was only in 1827 that he decided to go to Timbuctu. He fixed Sierra Leone as his starting point. He left Kadunky in the Rio Nuñez, went eastward and crossed the Peuls – dominated territory of Fouta Djalon. He reached the higher Niger and the Kankan village. Then, he crossed Ouassoulou and reached Timé. On January 1828, he changed his direction and went northward to Djenné and Cabra. He finally reached Timbuctu on April 1828. On May, he followed the caravans of the Moors who went to Morocco. On September, he landed at Tanger. Apart from his testimony concerning the village of Timbuctu, his journey enabled the geographers to affirm their theories on Niger.
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Table des matières
INTRODUCTION
PART I. A GENERAL HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF RELIGION IN BLACK AFRICA
I.1. THE DIFFERENT RELIGIOUS INFLUENCES
I.1.1. The African traditional beliefs
a) The deistic constructions
b) Rituals
I.1.2. The early Christians
a) The origin of Coptic Christianity
b) The Coptic Christianity in Africa
I.1.3. The African Muslims
a) The repartition of Islamic tribes in Black Africa
b) The Muslims’ culture and society
I.2. THE EVANGELISATION OF THE BLACK AFRICANS BY EUROPEANS
I.2.1. Explorations and adventures expeditions
a) The exploration of Niger
b) The exploration of Tchad including the finding of Timbuctu
c) The exploration of the Nile and Zambezi
I.2.2. The Pioneers of evangelisation
I.2.3. The establishment of missions in Africa
a) The Catholic Missions
b) The Protestant Missions
I.3. THE IMPACT OF EVANGELISATION ON THE BLACK AFRICANS
I.3.1. The creation of mission schools and hospitals
I.3.2. The adoption of European civilisation
I.4. THE REJECTION OF THE MISSIONARIES’S INFLUENCE
I.4.1. The hostility of some tribes towards foreigners
I.4.2. The emergence of African Independent Churches
PART II. THE EVANGELISATION OF THE BLACK AFRICANS (AS SEEN THROUGH THINGS FALL APART BY CHINUA ACHEBE, THE RIVER BETWEEN BY NGUGI WA THIONG’O, THE STRANGE MAN BY AMU DJOLETO, AND THE POOR CHRIST OF BOMBA BY MONGO BETI)
II.1. THE FIRST AFRICAN CONVERTS
II.1.1. Their portraits as described by Mongo BETI in The Poor Christ of Bomba, Chinua
ACHEBE in Things Fall Apart, and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o in The River Between.
a) Their portraits in The Poor Christ of Bomba
b) Their portraits in Things Fall Apart
c) Their portraits as described in The River Between
II.1.2. Reasons for their conversions to Christianity
a) Social reasons
b) Personal reasons
II.1.3. Adherence to the Christian principles of behaviour
a) Outward signs of adhesion to the Christian faith
b) The observance of Christian practices
II.2. THE USES OF CHRISTIANITY IN THE LIVES OF AFRICANS
II.2.1. In their daily life
II.2.2. In their moral behaviour
II.2.3. In their sexual behaviour
II.2.4. In the education of their children
a) Mission schools
b) Independent schools:
c) Secular schools vs religious schools
II.3. THE REJECTION OF THE MISSIONARIES’ INFLUENCE
II.3.1. The incompatibility of Christianity with the Africans’ beliefs and culture
a) The question of sex and marriage
b) The way of life
c) The question of belief
II.3.2. The mispresenting of the Gospel
a) The unedifying examples of the missionaries
b) The shocking hypocrisy of the Christians
II.3.3. Revolt against « the handmaiden of Colonisation »
PART III. PEDAGOGICAL INTEREST: USING SELECTED TEXTS FROM THE POOR CHRIST OF BOMBA, THINGS FALL APART, AND THE RIVER BETWEEN TO TEACH VERB FORMS TO THE LYCÉE STUDENTS EXPERIMENTATION
III.1. A GENERAL CLASSROOM OBSERVATION
III.2. EXPERIMENTATION ON SELECTED TEXTS
a) TEXT n°1 : The departure of Father Drumont to the Tala Country
b) TEXT n°2: The Feast of New Yam
c) TEXT n°3: The Feast of The New Yam
d) TEXT n°4: The Accident
e) TEXT n°5: The dangerous love – affair
f) TEXT n°6: The song of « education – thirsty » children
g) TEXT n°7: A warrior’s funeral
h) TEXT n°8: At the court
i) TEXT n°9: The ill-fated man
j) TEXT n°10: Okonkwo’s fury
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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